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ILLINOIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY, 


* 


ADDRESSES 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


https://archive.org/details/addressesofhonjoOOthur 


. 


. 


* 


Were  I  to  frame  a  platform  for  the  Republican 

party ,  it  would  mean  this  : 

The  supremacy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States ; 

The  maintenance  of  law  and  order; 

The  suppression  of  anarchy  and  crime  ; 

The  protection  of  every  American  citizen  in  his 
right  to  live,  to  labor,  and  to  vote  ; 

A  vigorous  foreign  policy  ; 

The  enforcement  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  ; 

Safety  under  the  stars  and  stripes  on  every  sea  and 
in  every  port  ; 

The  restoration  of  our  merchant  marine  ; 

The  tariff  of  William  McKinley  and  the  reciprocity 
of  James  G.  Blaine  ; 

American  markets  for  American  products  ; 

The  protection  of  the  American  farm,  the  American 
factory  and  the  American  mine  from  foreign  pau¬ 
per  competition  ; 

Such  legislation  as  will  guarantee  steady  employ¬ 
ment  and  good  wages  to  the  workingmen  of  this 
country; 

A  free  ticket  to  China  for  any  man  who  insists  upon 
his  right  to  buy  the  product  of  human  labor  with¬ 
out  paying  a  fair  price  to  the  brain  and  braun 
which  produces  it; 

/ 

The  enactment  of  Federal  legislation  adequate  to  se¬ 
cure  a  free  ballot  and  a  fair  count  in  every  voting 

j  o 

precinct  of  the  Union; 

A  one  term  Presidency; 

The  election  of  United  States  Senators  by  direct 

j 

vote  of  the  people; 

The  establishment  of  a  postal  telegraph  system; 


The  governmental  supervision  and  control  of  trans¬ 
portation  lines  and  rates; 

The  protection  of  the  people  from  all  unlawful  com¬ 
bination  and  unjust  exaction  of  aggregated  capital 
and  corporate  power; 

War  on  the  three  great  Democratic  trusts — oil y 
whisky  and  sugar; 

The  abolition  of  all  sectionalism;  one  people;  one 
country;  one  flag; 

A  political  crop  failure  for  the  calamity  howlers  and 
fusion  jugglers; 

A  pension  policy  just  and  generous  to  our  living 
heroes  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  their  dead 
comrades ; 

The  utmost  expansion  of  our  currency  consistent 
with  the  maintenance  of  the  equal  purchasing 
and  debt  paying  power  of  every  dollar; 

American  mints  for  American  mines; 

The  free  coinage  of  the  American  product  of  silver 
and  gold  into  honest  money; 

An  American  welcome  to  every  God-fearing,  liberty 
loving,  constitution  respecting,  law-abiding,  labor 
seeking,  decent  man; 

The  deportation  and  exclusion  of  all  whose  birth; 
whose  blood;  whose  condition;  whose  teachings; 
whose  practices  would  menace  the  permanancy  of 
free  institutions;  endanger  the  safetv  of  American 
society,  or  lessen  the  opportunities  of  American 
labor; 

An  American  flag  for  everv  American  school  house; 

A  deathless  loyalty  to  American  institutions  and  a 
patriotism  eternal  as  the  stars. 

JOHN  M.  THURSTON. 


ADDRESS 

OF  THE 

Hon.  John  M.  Thurston, 

Temporary  Chairman  of  the  Republican 
N a  tional  Co  n  vent  ion. 


Delivered  at  Chicago,  June  19,  1888, 


Gentlemen  of  the  Convention:  I  am  deeply  sensi¬ 
ble  of  the  distinguished  honor  conferred  upon  me  as  the 
presiding  officer  of  your  temporary  organization.  I  am 
also  mindful  of  the  grave  responsibilities  of  the  posi¬ 
tion,  and  if  they  arc  successfully  met  it  will  be  due  to 
the  continuance  of  your  generous  favor  and  the  bestowal 
of  your  loyal  assistance.  1  have  no  words  in  which  to 
fittingly  express  my  heartfelt  appreciation  of  your  con¬ 
fidence.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  not  for  myself  alone, 
but  on  behalf  of  that  great  and  growing  West,  which 
never  disappoints  the  expectations  of  the  Republican 
party.  I  come  from  a  State  whose  broad  domain  has 
been  largely  appropriated  by  the  surviving  veterans  of 
the  Army  of  the  Republic  under  the  beneficient  pro¬ 
visions  of  the  homestead  laws  enacted  by  a  Republican 
congress,  and,  true  to  the  heroic  recollections  of  the 
past,  the  homesteaders  of  the  West  still  march  on  under 
the  banner  of  Republicanism.  In  victory  and  defeat,  in 
sunshine  and  in  storm,  in  prosperity  and  adversity,  this 
mighty  West  retains  the  courage  of  its  convictions  and 
holds  that  devotion  to  a  just  cause,  though  it  brings  de¬ 
feat,  is  better  than  victory  achieved  at  the  expense  of 
broken  vows  and  political  dishonor.  We  are  met  in 
National  Convention  for  deliberation  and  conference. 
The  Republican  party  of  the  United  States  relies  upon 


1 


the  wisdom  of  its  assembled  delegates  for  such  action  as 
will  insure  success.  If  we  are  prepared  to  honestly 
meet  the  supreme  issues  of  the  hour  with  a  clear,  fear¬ 
less  and  ringing  declaration  of  our  principles,  and  to 
nominate  a  ticket  that  will  commend  itself  to  the  loyalty 
and  intelligence  of  the  country,  we  can  grandly  win. 
We  enter  upon  the  proceedings  of  this  convention  pre¬ 
pared  to  submit  individual  judgment  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  majority,  and  to  lay  down  personal  preferences  on 
the  altar  of  party  success.  When  our  candidates  are 
nominated  we  will  all  join,  heart  and  soul,  in  the  grand 
chorus  of  rejoicing;  and  the  rainbow  of  our  harmony 
will  give  certain  promise  of  a  victorious  morning  in 
November.  When  the  Democratic  party,  at  the  close 
of  the  last  Presidential  election,  robbed  us  of  a  victory 
fairly  won,  we  patiently  waited  for  the  certain  coming 
of  the  justice  of  the  years.  We  hoped  and  believed  that 
1888  would  right  the  great  political  wrong  of  188-f. 
Right  it,  not  only  for  the  Republican  party,  but  for  the 
grand  and  glorious  candidates  whose  names  were  the  in- 
spiration  of  that  wonderful  campaign.  The  wisdom  of 
an  all  wise  Providence  has  otherwise  decreed.  One  of 
them — that  citizen  soldier,  that  warrior  statesman,  the 
Black  Eagle  of  Illinois,  has  been  summoned  by  the 
Silent  Messenger  to  report  to  his  old  commander  beyond 
the  river.  But  John  A.  Logan — dead  in  the  body — 
lives  in  the  illuminated  pages  of  his  country’s  most 
splendid  history — lives  in  the  grateful  love  of  a  free 
people,  whose  union  he  so  gallantly  fought  to  preserve 
— lives  in  the  blessings  of  a  down-trodden  race,  whose 
freedom  he  so  manfully  struggled  to  achieve — lives  in 
the  future  song  and  story  of  a  hero-worshipping  world; 
and  along  the  highway  of  the  Nation’s  glory,  side  by 
side  with  old  John  Brown,  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
Ulysses  S.  Grant,  his  soul  goes  marching  on.  The 
other — that  gallant  leader,  the  chevalier  of  American 
politics,  the  glory  of  Republicanism  and  the  nightmare 
of  Democracy,  our  Henry  of  Navarre — is  seeking  in 


9 


foreign  travel  needed  relaxation  and  rest  from  the  cares 
© 

and  responsibilities  of  long  public  life  and  service. 
With  the  magnanimity  of  his  greatness  he  has  denied  us 
the  privilege  of  supporting  him  in  this  convention. 
Holding  above  all  other  things  party  harmony  and  suc¬ 
cess,  he  has  stepped  from  the  certain  ladder  of  his  laud¬ 
able  ambition  that  some  other  man  may  climb  to  power. 
As  his  true  friends  we  must  not,  dare  not,  commit  the 
political  crime  of  disobedience  to  his  expressed  will. 
We  cannot  place  him  at  the  head  of  the  ticket,  but  we 
can  make  him  commander-in  chief  of  the  forces  in  the 
field,  where  he  will  be  invincible.  And  though  James 
G.  Blaine  may  not  be  our  President,  yet  he  remains  our 
uncrowned  king,  wielding  the  baton  of  acknowledged 
leadership,  supreme  in  the  allegiance  of  his  devoted  fol¬ 
lowers,  honored  and  respected  by  all  honest  and  loyal 
men — the  greatest  living  American,  and  the  worthy 
object  of  our  undying  love.  But  the  Republican  party 
is  not  left  without  great  men  to  place  upon  its  ticket. 
We  h  ave  that  honest,  able  and  experienced  financier, 
statesman  and  senator  from  Ohio,  and  his  no  less  dis¬ 
tinguished  colleague  from  Iowa.  Indiana,  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin  present  to  us  the  names  of  distinguished 
soldiers,  while  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Kansas,  Con¬ 
necticut  and  other  States  have  favorite  and  worthy 
sons.  From  this  splendid  galaxy  of  political  stars  we 
cannot  choose  amiss.  The  Republican  party  points 
with  pride  to  the  mighty  achievements  of  its  past,  and 
offers  as  an  earnest  of  its  future  faithfulness  an  un¬ 
broken  record  of  great  deeds  done  for  freedom,  union 
and  national  prosperity.  It  is  pre-eminently  the  party 
of  protection.  It  was  born  of  the  irresistible  desire  to 
proteet  the  slave  from  the  lash  of  the  master,  and  to 
save  our  civilization  from  the  blighting  curse  of  its 
crime  against  humanity.  It  performed  its  sacred  mission 
of  protecting  the  Republic  from  secession  and  disunion; 
and,  in  the  later  time,  it  succeeded  in  protecting  both  the 
credit  and  currency  of  the  Nation  from  repudiation  and 


inflation.  Its  platform  epitomized,  stands  for  the  pro¬ 
tection  of  popular  government  upon  the  American  con¬ 
tinent;  stands  for  the  protection  of  all  govern¬ 
mental  and  international  rights  from  restriction 
or  invasion;  stands  for  the  protection  of  the  life, 
liberty,  and  property  of  the  individual;  stands  for 
the  protection  of  every  privilege  and  immunity  of 
American  citizenship;  stands  for  the  protection  of 
the  ballot  box  from  the  crimes  of  .intimidation, 
robbery  and  substitution;  stands  for  the  protection 
of  American  commerce,  American  manufacture  and 
American  agriculture  from  disastrous  foreign  competi¬ 
tion;  stands  for  the  protection  of  home  invention,  home 
skill  and  home  labor  from  the  free  trade  heresies  which 
would  degrade  and  pauperize  them  all;  stands  for  the 
protection  of  the  people  from  all  unlawful  combination 
and  unjust  exaction  of  aggregated  capital  and  corporate 
power;  stands  also  for  the  protection  of  both  capital 
and  corporation  from  confiscation  and  mob  violence; 
and  above  all,  stands  for  the  protection  and  sanctity  of 
the  American  home.  It  welcomes  to  our  shores  the 
downtrodden  and  oppressed  of  every  land,  but  it  de¬ 
mands  that  the  inestimable  blessing  of  American  citi¬ 
zenship,  purchased  with  the  priceless  blood  of  heroes 
and  martyrs,  shall  be  conferred  only  upon  those  who  are 
in  full  sympathy  and  accord  with  the  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  of  our  Government  and  who  will  loyally  support 
the  sacred  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  And  it  holds  that  Congress  has  the  power  to 
protect  our  civilization  and  morality  from  the  leprosy 
of  Asiatic  paganism,  contamination  and  degradation. 
It  maintains  that  the  benefits  of  free  government  should 
be  extended  to  all  true  lovers  of  liberty,  but  it  insists 
that  the  law  of  the  land  shall  be  a  shield  only  to 
those  who  obey  it,  and  that  for  the  Anarchist,  the  Com¬ 
munist,  and  the  criminal  American,  justice  has  nothing 
to  offer  but  its  sword.  The  reconstructed  Democracy 
has  now  been  in  power  nearly  four  years.  Its  adminis- 


4 


tration  has  been  most  satisfactory  to  those  who  hold 
office  under  it.  Its  loyalty  has  been  so  pronounced  as 
to  receive  the  approval  of  every  enemy  of  the  govern¬ 
ment.  The  courage  of  its  foreign  policy  has  amused 
the  great  powers  and  pleased  every  coward.  Its  civil 
service  has  been  so  thoroughly  reformed  as  to  delight 
Mr.  Higgins.  Its  justice  to  the  disabled  soldiers  has 
won  golden  opinions  from  those  who  gave  them  their 
wounds.  Its  financial  management  has  been  safe  be¬ 
cause  of  its  inability  to  destroy  the  resulting  prosperity 
of  Republican  legislation.  And  its  unparalleled  straddle 
of  the  tariff  question  has  been  a  source  of  wonderment 
to  “gods  and  men."  It  is  strong  in  the  imbecility  of 
“innocuous  desuetude,"  and  deserves  to  live  as  a  remin¬ 
iscence  of  promises  forgotten  and  pledges  unfulfilled. 
There  are  those  in  the  land  who  say  that  the  mission  of 
the  Republican  party  is  at  an  end — that  the  Emancipa¬ 
tion  Proclamation,  Appomattox,  and  the  Constitutional 
amendments  are  at  once  the  monuments  of  its 
glory  and  the  gravestones  of  its  demise.  But 
the  work  of  the  Republican  party  will  never  be 
done  until  every  American  citizen  enters  into  his 
unquestioned  inheritance  of  liberty,  equal  rights  and 
justice;  until  representation  in  Congress  is  based  upon 
votes  freely  cast  and  fairly  counted;  until  adequate  pro¬ 
vision  has  been  made  for  the  helplessness  and  old  age  of 
our  surviving  veterans  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of 
their  dead  comrades;  until  those  policies  of  government 
which  insure  national  and  individual  prosperity  are 
firmly  established,  and  until  patriotism  and  loyalty  are 
the  only  qualifications,  except  fitness,  for  official  posi¬ 
tion  in  the  service  of  the  republic.  There  are  those 
who  insist  that  the  Republican  party  keeps  alive  the  old 
sectional  feeling  and  refuses  to  let  “the  dead  past  bury 
its  dead."  The  Republican  party  longs  and  prays  for 
ths  speedy  coming  of  the  millennium  of  its  hope,  when 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  in  spirit  as  in  fact,  is  obliter¬ 
ated  forever;  when  fraternal  ties  and  common  interests 


o 


unite  us  all;  when  the  people  are  found  rejoicing  to¬ 
gether  that  the  inherited  institution  of  human  slavery 

CD  4/ 

was  destroyed  by  the  justice  of  God;  glad  together 
that  the  holy  bonds  of  union  could  not  be  severed; 
hopeful  together  for  a  magnificent  national  destiny; 
loyal  together  to  a  common  country  and  its  uncon¬ 
quered  flag.  But  when  that  glad  time  comes,  black 
and  white  must  march  side  by  side  in  the  broad  sun¬ 
shine  of  safety  and  lie  down  to  peaceful  slum¬ 
ber  in  the  untroubled  •  shadows  of  protected 
homes.  The  Republican  party  turns  to  the  new 
South  with  wide-open  arms.  It  offers  loyal  as¬ 
sistance  in  the  development  of  its  agriculture, 
the  opening  of  its  mines  and  the  upbuilding  of  its  man¬ 
ufactories.  It  proposes  to  break  down  the  barrier  of 
unpleasant  memories  with  the  hope  of  a  new  prosperity. 
The  distinctive  issue  of  tne  present  campaign  is  that  of 
the  tariff.  To  the  support  of  a  protective  tariff  there 
will  rise  up  an  overwhelming  army  of  intelligent, 
thoughtful  and  practical  men;  and  the  East  and  West, 
the  North  and  South,  will  join  hands  together  in  one 
final  effort  to  forever  exterminate  in  this  Republic  the 
pernicious  doctrine  of  free  trade.  As  we  gather  here 
we  remember  that  other  grand  convention  held  in  this 
city  in  1860.  We  remember  how  it  was  given  wisdom 
and  courage  to  select  that  great  man  of  the  people — that 
Moses  who  led  11s  through  the  parted  waters  of  the  sea, 
past  the  wilderness  of  battle,  over  the  Jordan  of  safety 
into  the  Promised  Land.  In  1881  we  were  driven  back 
into  the  wilderness  again.  God  give  us  the  wisdom  to 


find  another  Moses  who  can  limit  our  wanderings  to 
four  years  instead  of  forty.  The  mighty  past  is  with 
us  here  to-day.  It  fills  us  with  that  same  spirit  of  free¬ 
dom,  patriotism  and  devotion  which  breathed  into  the 
common  dust  of  ordinary  humanity  the  sublime  inspira¬ 
tion  of  heroic  deeds.  Let  us  read  its  lessons  rightly 
and  hold  its  precepts  dear.  When  Robert  Bruce,  King 
of  Scotland,  lay  upon  his  dying  bed  he  requested  that 


6 


his  heart  should  he  taken  from  his  inanimate  body  and 
borne  by  knightly  hands  to  the  Savior’s  sepulchre. 
After  his  death,  James,  Earl  of  Douglas,  undertook 
the  sacred  mission,  and,  with  the  heart  encased  in  a 
golden  casket,  set  out  upon  his  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land.  On  the  way  thither  himself  and  comrades  were 
set  upon  by  a  great  host  of  Moorish  warriors.  Though 
they  fought  with  all  the  vallor  of  mortal  men,  they  were 
borne  backward  by  sheer  force- of  numbers,  and  their 
overthrow  seemed  certain,  when  Douglas,  drawing  from 
his  bosom  the  priceless  casket,  cast  it  far  out  into  the 
midst  of  the  oncoming  host,  and  cried  out:  “Lead  on, 
Heart  of  Bruce,  we  follow  thee."  And  the  knights  of 
Scotland,  never  defeated  while  following  a  Bruce, 
pressed  forward,  and  won  the  day.  Let  this  convention 
choose  a  Douglas  for  our  Bruce.  He  will  take  the  soul 

V _ 

of  our  great  martyr  into  the  golden  casket  of  his  love, 
and  with  it  lead  us  on  to  certain  and  splendid  victory. 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  BY 

Hon.  John  M.  Thurston, 

AT  CENTRAL  MUSIC  HALL, 


Chicago,  April  30,  1880, 


ON  the;  occasion  of  the  obskrvence  of  the 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CENTENNIAL  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — The  inauguration  of 
George  Washington  as  President  of  the  United  States 
put  an  end  forever  to  the  divine  right  of  kingly  rule. 
Despots  still  hold  in  subjugation  the  lives  and  liberties 
of  unwilling  subjects.  Emperors  still  surround  with 
the  splendor  of  courtly  pageantry  their  crumbling 
thrones.  Kings,  shorn  of  their  royal  prerogatives  by 
the  gradual  encroachments  of  parliamentary  power,  still 
wield  their  puny  scepters  and,  in  imagination,  govern 
as  of  old.  But  the  saintly  mask  no  longer  hides  the 
hideous  face  of  oppression,  and  the  clamor  of  the  great 
bell  on  Independence  Hall  awakened  the  whole  world  to 
the  glad  knowledge  that  the  divine  right  of  government 
is  in  the  people.  When  Paul  Revere  rode  through  the 
night,  rousing  the  sons  of  liberty  with  the  cry,  “To 
arms!"  he  not  only  summoned  the  patriots  of  Massachu¬ 
setts  to  the  unequal  struggle  and  martyrdom  of  the 
morrow,  but  he  summoned  the  genius  of  universal  free¬ 
dom  to  the  revolution  of  humanity  against  the  injustice 
and  oppression  of  a  slave-cursed  world.  That  revolu- 


1 


tion  did  not  end  with  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis  at 
Yorktown;  it  still  goes  on  wherever  some  desperate 
martyr  hurls  his  bare  breast  against  the  bayonets  of 
despotic  power  and  with  his  life  makes  way  for  the 
liberties  of  his  fellow  men.  It  still  goes  on  wherever 
some  great  constitutional  leader  dares  to  combat  the 
prejudices  of  political  associates,  that  government  may 
be  administered  to  all  alike.  It  still  goes  on  wherever 
the  mighty  engine  of  a  free  press  scourges  injustice  with 
its  scorpion  lash;  it  still  goes  on  wherever  eloquence  and 
song  have  power  to  stir  the  souls  of  man;  it  still  goes  on 
wherever  from  Christian  pulpit  is  preached  the  living 
word  of  God.  And  this  mighty  revolution  will  be 
carried  on  by  every  people  and  in  every  land  until  the 
glorious  sunshine  of  its  victorious  day  rests  with  equal 
splendor  upon  all  the  earth.  On  this  centennial  occasion 
our  hearts  are  tilled  with  gratitude  to  those  great  men 

C;  cj 

of  old  whose  inspired  patriotism,  lofty  courage,  and 
sublime  sacrifices  wrought  the  miracle  of  American 
independence.  They  toiled  and  struggled,  not  for  them¬ 
selves,  but  for  all  future  generations.  They  did  not 
dream  what  mighty  strides  would  mark  the  Nation's 
onward  path.  They  saw  but  dimly  through  the  mists 
of  years  the  possibilities  of  time.  They  sought  no 
honors,  asked  for  no  reward;  they  laid  their  lives  as 
willing  offerings  upon  the  altar  of  duty,  content  to  know 
that  what  they  did  was  for  the  sacred  cause  of  right. 
Who  can  fitly  commemorate  the  courage  and  devotion 
of  those  patriots  and  heroes  of  '76  (  What  pen  can 
write,  what  tongue  can  speak  their  fitting  meed  of 
praise  ?  History  has  immortalized  300  Spartans,  who, 
at  Thermopylae,  kept  the  gateway  of  their  country  until 
all  but  one  had  died.  The  chivalrous  devotion  of  Na¬ 
poleon's  old  guard,  who  at  Waterloo  made  absolute  verity 
of  their  watchword,  “The  old  guard  dies,  but  never 
surrenders,"  has  filled  the  world  with  wonder,  and  the 
song  of  a  Tennyson  has  thrilled  the  hearts  of  all  man¬ 
kind  with  the  story  of  the  noble  six  hundred  who  at 


2 


Halaklava  charged  an  army.  The  minute  men  of  Lex¬ 
ington  and  Hunker  Hill;  the  defenders  of  the  old  log  fort 
in  Charlestown  harbor;  the  refugees  of  Valley  Forge 
yea,  “  every  ragged  rebel  of  them  all  "  should  l>e  canon¬ 
ized  as  saints  in  the  cathedral  of  liberty,  and  the  memory 
of  their  glorious  deeds  will  live  undimmed  forever.  And 
not  alone  by  those  who  drew  the  sword  for  freedom  are 
the  laurels  to  be  won.  There  were  great  men  of  peace 
whose  wisdom  and  statesmanship  guided  the  struggling 
colonies,  armed,  equipped  and  maintained  their  armies, 
brought  order  and  union  out  of  the  chaos  of  conflicting 
interests,  and  finally  confirmed  by  wise  constitutional 
provision  the  victories  of  war.  Such  names  as  those  of 
Adams,  Franklin,  Jefferson  and  Madison  have  reached 
to  the  full  stature  of  immortality.  Having  gained  their 
independence  and  formulated  their  constitution,  the 
people  of  the  new  Union  were  called  upon  to  select  a 
chief  magistrate.  George  Washington  was  elected  our 
first  President  by  unanimous  choice.  He  might  have 
made  himself  a  dictator,  and  perhaps  a  monarch,  but  he 
only  accepted  the  exalted  Presidential  office  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  more  certainly  establishing  constitutional 
government  in  the  land,  and  for  the  people  his  sword 
made  free.  We  stand  at  the  close  of  our  country's 
completed  century.  In  place  of  the  original  thirteen 
colonies  there  are  now  thirty-eight  populous,  thriving, 
magnificent  commonwealths,  while  four  new  stars  already 
cast  their  dawning  glory  across  the  azure  of  the  Nation's 
flag.  From  less  than  four  millions  who  struggled 
through  the  desperate  night  of  revolution  to  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  constitutional  fieedom,  we  have  grown  to  sixty 
million  happy  people — all  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  in¬ 
dividual  liberty — all  in  exact  measure  protected  by  the 
law  of  the  land — all  with  equal  opportunity  pursuing 
the  prosperous  paths  of  peace.  The  wilderness  of  the 
New  World  has,  indeed,  been  made  to  blossom  with  the 
rose  of  civilization.  Into  the  depths  of  the  primeval 
forest  the  ax  of  the  sturdy  pioneer  has  led  the  wav. 


3 


The  virgin  prairies,  wakened  from  their  eons  of  repose, 
repay  the  efforts  of  patient  husbandry  with  the  richest 
gifts  of  garnered  sheaves.  From  the  golden  hearts 
of  our  mountains  has  been  brought  to  light  the  count- 
less  billions  of  their  hoarded  wealth.  The  ingenuity 
of  man  has  chained  the  rivulet  and  the  river,  the  cata¬ 
ract  and  the  waterfall  to  turn  the  wheel  that  toils  for 
him.  From  Orient  to  Occident,  over  the  great  steel 
highways,  thunders  the  commerce  of  the  world;  grand 
and  thriving  cities  rise  along  the  way,  their  apparent 
growth  of  centuries  wrought  by  the  magic  of  a  few 
short  years.  Wonderful  labor-saving  machines  have 
multiplied  the  power  of  human  hands,  while  the  inven¬ 
tive  Yankee  has  fathomed  the  miracle  of  electric  force 
and  compelled  the  lightning  to  perform  the  will  of  man. 
In  every  valley  nestles  the  cottage  of  contented  labor; 
in  every  hamlet  stands  the  temple  of  free  education;  on 
every  hillside  rises  the  church  spire  of  a  God-given  faith. 
This  is  the  only  land  where  man  is  truly  free.  The 
only  land  in  which  there  is  no  rank,  no  caste,  no  aris¬ 
tocracy  of  blood,  of  birth,  of  wealth,  of  place.  It  is 
the  only  country  where  labor  is  fairly  paid,  where  the 
industrious  workingman,  out  of  the  accumulated  sav¬ 
ings  of  his  daily  toil,  can  pay  for  the  pleasant  home  m 
which  he  lives,  and  send  his  children  to  the  public 
schools.  It  is  the  only  place  where  the  peasant  is  a 
prince,  and  the  plowboy  may  become  the  President. 
Yes,  thank  God  for  it,  in  the  United  States  the  sweat  of 
honest  toil  is  honorable  and  honored,  and  the  dinner 
pail  in  the  hands  of  an  American  mechanic  is  the  badge 
of  America’s  truest  nobility.  We  offer  to  confer  upon 
every  man,  who  will  understandingly  and  in  good  faith 
accept  the  sacred  trust,  the  priceless  rights  and  fran¬ 
chises  of  American  citizenship;  but  no  man  must  be 
permitted  to  profane  the  sanctuary  of  liberty  with  un¬ 
holy  presence  who  does  not  subscribe  with  his  whole 
heart  and  soul  to  the  tenets  of  our  Constitution,  and 
who  is  not  ready  to  yield  implicit  obedience  to  the  stat- 


4 


utes  of  the  country  whose*  protection  Ik;  invokes.  The 
United  States  of  America  must  never  become  the  asy¬ 
lum  of  criminals,  or  the  hot-bed  of  conspiracies  against 
law  and  order.  The  government  of  the  people,  made 
possible  by  the  sword  of  a  Washington,  preserved  by 
the  victories  of  a  Grant,  and  consecrated  by  the  martyr¬ 
dom  of  a  Lincoln,  must  never  be  endangered  by  the 
dissemination  of  those  monstrous  theories  which  would 
overturn  all  government  for  anarchy,  and  subvert  all 
society  to  the  dominion  of  unbridled  passion  and  brute 
force.  (Tremendous  applause.) 

And  now,  as  a  Nation,  we  face  the  sunrise  of  a  second 
century.  What  a  splendid  destiny  awaits  our  glorious 
Union  if  its  people  keep  the  faith.  And  yet  its  path¬ 
way  may  be  beset  by  many  dangers,  its  sky  obscured 
by  many  clouds.  This  Republic  can  only  live  so  long 
as  it  holds  to  the  original  purposes  of  its  creation — to 
protect  the  lives,  to  insure  the  liberties,  and  to  promote 
the  happiness  of  all  its  people.  Its  corner-stone  is  tin* 
consent  of  the  governed;  that  consent  only  continues  so 
long  as  all  are  given  equal  voice  in  its  affairs.  The 
great  crisis  which  this  Nation  faced  in  1861  came  to  it 
not  because  of  any  inherent  lack  of  constitutional  power 
to  preserve  its  unity;  but  it  came  because  the  framers  of 
our  Constitution  denied  to  one  class  of  their  fellow  men 
that  same  measure  of  liberty  and  equality  which  they 
demanded  for  themselves.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  was  framed  and  adopted  as  a  partial  com¬ 
promise  to  an  existing  condition  of  things.  The  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  thirteen  colonies,  assembled  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  national  government,  felt  that  the 
necessities  of  union  overshadowed  all  other  considera¬ 
tions,  and,  therefore,  they  temporized  upon  the  question 
of  human  rights.  Such  a  compromise  could  not  out¬ 
last  the  conscience  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
institution  of  human  slavery  was  inconsistent  with  tin* 
Declaration  of  Independence.  A  government  which 
proclaimed  liberty  and  equality  as  a  God-given  heritage, 


and  yet  denied  both  to  one  class  of  its  people,  could  not 
withstand  the  test  of  time.  The  culmination  of  the 
irrepressible  conflict  between  right  and  wrong,  justice 
and  crime,  humanity  and  oppression,  was  sure  to  come. 
It  was  a  conflict  far  antedating  the  adoption  of  our 
Federal  Constitution.  The  Puritans  of  New  England 
and  the  Cavaliers  of  Virginia  brought  to  this  country 
two  irreconcilable  theories  of  the  rights  of  men.  Both 
were  descendants  of  that  grand  race  which  first  success¬ 
fully  set  up  the  bulwark  of  law  against  the  unrestricted 
will  of  kings.  Their  common  ancestors  in  1215  had 
wrested  from  unwilling  royalty  the  great  Magna 
Charta — that  sublime  declaration  of  the  power  of  the 
people — the  great  constitutional  landmark  of  human 
liberty.  But  the  Cavaliers  brought  from  the  old  world 
their  inherited  traditions  of  superiority.  The  Pilgrims 
planted  on  the  shores  of  the  new  world  the  great  white 
cross  of  a  second  crusade  —its  Mecca  the'  shrine  of  equal 
rights.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  breathed  the 
spirit  of  the  Puritan  faith.  The  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  submitted  to  the  domination  of  the 
Cavalier.  The  supreme  hour  of  the  Nation  came;  its 
life  weighed  in  the  balance  as  against  the  sin;  it  was  de¬ 
manded  that  one  or  the  other  should  perish  from  the 
earth,  and  the  Republic  lived.  r\  he  genesis  of  American 
liberty  was  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence;  but  the 
gospel  of  its  New  Testament  was  written  by  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  the 
Magna  Charta  of  man’s  real  freedom  and  equality  was 
secured  by  Ulysses  S.  Grant  under  the  shadow  of  a 
Virginia  apple  tree — Appomatox  and  Plymouth  Rock, 
the  one  the  complement  of  the  other, — God’s  two  foot¬ 
steps  marching  on.  Massachusetts  and  Virginia, 
commonwealth  and  dominion,  are  at  last  wedded  at  the 
altar  of  a  common  faith,  and  on  this  sacred  centennial 
of  constitutional  freedom  the  descendants  of  Roundhead 
and  Cavalier  all  unite  in  thanksgiving  to  Almighty 
God  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union  on  the  basis  of 


universal  liberty.  And  the  time  will  never  come  when 
American  people  can  afford  to  divide  their  joint  inheri¬ 
tance  of  Mount  Vernon  and  Bunker  Hill. 

This  retrospection  of  the  mighty  past  is  pregnant  with 
wisdom  for  future  guidance. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  hope  that  the  present  un¬ 
paralleled  era  of  prosperity  and  peace  can  be  continued 
through  all  future  time. 

In  the  marvelous  development  of  the  United  States; 
in  the  rapid  accumulation  of  unprecedented  wealth;  in 
the  amalgamation  of  many  nationalities;  in  the  unseemly 
greed  for  place  and  power;  in  the  startling  combina¬ 
tions  of  corporate  capital;  in  the  rapid  growth  of  great 
cities;  in  the  tendency  toward  class  distinctions;  in  the 
establishment  of  a  mushroom  aristocracy,  and  in  the 
growing  discontent  of  the  laboring  masses,  is  there  not 
danger  to  the  Republic? 

Rome  was  a  republic  once.  And  to  be  a  Roman  was 
greater  than  to  be  a  king.  Her  strength  was  in  the 
rugged  manhood  and  Spartan  simplicity  of  her  citizen¬ 
ship,  but,  grown  over- rich  and  strong  her  people  sunk 
their  virtues  in  a  maelstrom  of  luxury  and  vice  and  for¬ 
feited  their  liberties  forever.  The  free  states  of  Greece 
perished  in  the  same  way,  and  from  the  same  cause. 

It  would  be  useless  to  deny  the  fact  that  in  the  United 
States  there  is  a  growing  tendency  to  subordinate  ab¬ 
stract  right  to  concrete  gain.  The  worshipers  of  Mam¬ 
mon  are  on  the  increase,  and  the  man  of  money  too 
often  takes  undue  precedence  in  social  and  political  life 
over  the  man  of  brains. 

This  unjust  aggrandisement  of  the  rich  is  the  tempta¬ 
tion  of  the  struggling  poor.  It  breeds  that  spirit  of 
restlessness  and  discontent  which  sometimes  incites  to 
lawlessness  and  crime.  It  may  well  be  feared  that  on 
some  not  impossible  to-morrow  of  financial  distress,  the 
ostentatious  extravagance  and  unwarranted  arrogance 

o  p 

of  the  few  may  drive  the  struggling  masses  to  desperate 
measures. 


Do  not  misunderstand  me.  I  would  not  sanction  any 
resort  to  violence  for  the  redress  of  real  or  imaginary 

cD>  J 

wrongs. 

The  law  must  be  respected  and  enforced  or  liberty  is 
impossible.  The  rights  of  property  must  remain  in¬ 
violate,  and  justice  will  not  tolerate  illegal  acts.  Mobs 
are  a  menace  to  free  government  and  should  be  dis 
persed  by  the  iron  hand  of  power.  But  I  would  make  a 
mob  impossible  by  the  observance  of  that  equality  and 
the  dispensation  of  that  fellowship  which  recognizes  the 
common  brotherhood  of  the  human  race. 

There  is  no  danger  that  any  law  will  hereafter  dis¬ 
grace  the  statutes  of  our  country  which,  by  declaration 
or  effect,  refuses  to  any  American  citizen  equal  partici¬ 
pation  in  the  rights  and  privileges  of  citizenship.  But  it 
is  at  least  possible  that  public  sentiment,  either  locally 
or  throughout  the  country,  may  become  so  strong  in 
favor  of  the  especial  rights  and  privileges  of  some  par¬ 
ticular  class  as  to  permit  injustice  to  go  unpunished. 
This  should  never  be.  If  we  are  worthy  of  the  freedom 
we  enjoy,  if  we  are  lit  to  participate  in  the  blessings  of 
popular  government,  if  we  are  God-fearing,  law  abid¬ 
ing,  patriotic  people,  then  we  should  see  to  it  that  every 
American  citizen,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  at  home  or 
abroad,  on  land  or  sea,  is  protected  in  his  right  to  live, 
to  labor,  and  to  vote;  not  only  by  legislative  enactment, 
not  only  by  administrative  power,  but  by  the  ready 
sympathy  of  every  American  heart  and  the  loyal  assist¬ 
ance  of  every  American  hand.  Thus  will  we  realize  the 
prophecy  of  our  Lincoln  that  4  This  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not  perish 
from  the  earth  A 

It  is  worthy  of  solemn  reflection  that  upon  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  the  day  which  was  to  witness  the  inauguration  of 
our  first  President  the  people  were  summoned  to  as¬ 
semble  in  their  several  places  of  divine  worship,  and  re¬ 
turn  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  the  blessings  of  free 
government:  and  the  first  act  of  George  Washington, 


8 


after  he  took  the  oath  as  Chief  Executive,  was  to  pro¬ 
ceed  on  foot,  attended  by  the  witnesses  of  the  inaugural 
ceremony,  to  the  altar  of  the  Christian  faith,  where  the 
wisdom  of  an  overruling  Providence  was  publicly  pro¬ 
claimed.  1  do  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  the  genius  of 
American  liberty  was  born  of  the  spirit  of  the  Christian 
religion.  It  was  the  practical  application  to  the  affairs 
of  men  of  that  gospel  of  equality  preached  by  the  lowly 
Nazarene  upon  the  shores  of  Galilee. 

The  little  band  of  worshipers  who  assembled  in  the 
cabin  of  ‘the  Mayflower,  as  it  rocked  at  peaceful  anchor 
by  the  shore  of  the  new  world,  drew  up  the  first  written 
constitution  of  popular  government.  This  agreement, 
signed  and  executed  by  them  all,  received  its  inspiration 
from  the  teachings  of  holy  writ. 

Jerusalem  crucified  Him  who  taught  that  doctrine  of 
brotherly  love,  which  underlies  all  democratic  institu¬ 
tions;  but  His  resurrection  goes  on  in  the  souls  of  men, 
and  his  kingdom,  will  come  on  earth  with  the  universal 
republic. 

By  the  immortal  memories  of  the  heroic  past,  we  are 
summoned  to  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
future. 

AVe  pledge  to  the  perpetuation  of  popular  govern¬ 
ment  and  the  maintenance  of  its  free  institutions  the 
unwearying  devotion  of  patriotic  hearts. 

AVe  pray  that  the  blessings  of  Providence  may  attend 
us  in  the  years  to  come,  and  the  shield  of  aFalher's  love 
be  over  us  always. 

Ethan  Allen  demanded  the  immediate  surrender  of 
old  Ticonderoga  in  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah  and 
the  Continental  Congress,  and  at  the  summons  the 
sword  of  oppression  fell  from  the  nerveless  grasp  of  the 
representative  of  despotic  power. 

George  AVashington,  as  he  stood  before  the  assembled 
multitude  and  took  the  oath  of  office  as  our  first  Presi¬ 
dent,  touched  with  reverent  lips  the  word  of  God. 
Abraham  Lincoln,  in  His  Holy  name,  issued  tin'  man- 


date  that  set  four  million  people  free.  And  Ulysses  S. 
Grant  gratefully  acknowledged  Ilis  supreme  guidance 
of  the  armies  that  saved  the  Republic.  His  mercy  will 
still  lead  us  on. 

On,  under  the  dearest  Hag  that  freedmen  ever  bore. 
On,  in  the  broad  sunshine  of  liberty  and  justice.  On, 
to  the  inspiring  music  of  the  Union. 

On,  along:  the  grand  high  wav  of  the  Nation's  glorv  to 
the  future  of  our  country’s  hope. 


lo 


* 


ADDRESS 


OF 


JOHN  M.  THURSTON 

At  the  Annual  Banquet  of  the 

MICHIGAN  CLUB  AT  DETROIT 


FEBRUARY  21st,  1890, 


IN  RESPONSE  TO  THE  TOAST, 


li 


The  Man  Who  Wears  the  Button 


Sometimes  in  passing  along  the  street  I  meet  a  man 
who,  in  the  left  lapel  of  his  coat,  wears  a  little,  plain, 
modest,  unassuming  bronze  button.  The  coat  is  often 
old  and  rusty;  the  face  above  it  seamed  and  furrowed 
by  the  toil  and  suffering  of  adverse  years;  perhaps  be¬ 
side  it  hangs  an  empty  sleeve,  and  below  it  stumps  a 
wooden  peg.  But  when  I  meet  the  man  who  wears 
that  button  I  doff*  my  hat  and  stand  uncovered  in  his 
presence — yea!  to  me  the  very  dust  his  weary  foot  has 
pressed  is  holy  ground,  for  I  know  that  man,  in  the 
dark  hour  of  the  Nation's  peril,  bared  his  breast  to  the 
hell  of  battle  to  keep  the  flag  of  our  country  in  the 
Union  sky. 

May  1  >e  at  Donaldson  he  reached  the  inner  trench;  at 
Shiloh  held  the  broken  line:  at  Chattanooga  climbed 
the  flame-swept  hill,  or  stormed  the  clouds  on  Lookout 
Heights.  He  was  not  born  or  bred  to  soldier  life.  His 
country’s  summons  called  him  from  the  plow,  the  forge, 
the  bench,  the  loom,  the  mine,  the  store,  the  office,  the 


* 


i 


college,  the  sanctuary.  He  did  not  fight  for  greed  of 
gold,  to  find  adventure,  or  to  win  renown.  He  loved 
the  peace  of  quiet  ways,  and  yet  he  broke  the  clasp  of 
clinging  arms,  turned  from  the  witching  glance  of  ten¬ 
der  eyes,  left  good-bye  kisses  upon  tiny  lips  to  look 
death  in  the  face  on  desperate  fields. 

And  when  the  war  was  over  he  quietly  took  up  the 
broken  threads  of  love  and  life  as  best  he  could,  a  better 
citizen  for  having  been  so  good  a  soldier. 

What  mighty  men  have  worn  this  same  bronze  but¬ 
ton!  Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  Logan  and  an  hun¬ 
dred  more,  whose  names  are  written  on  the  title  page 
of  deathless  fame.  Their  glorious  victories  are  known  of 
men;  the  history  of  their  country  gives  them  voice;  the 
white  light  of  publicity  illuminates  them  for  every  eye. 
But  there  are  thousands  who,  in  humbler  way,  no  less 
deserve  applause.  How  many 

KNIGHTLIEST  ACTS  OF  CHIVALRY 
were  never  seen  beyond  the  line  or  heard  of  above  the 
roar  of  battle;  I  know  a  man  wearing  the  button  whose 
modest  lips  will  not  unclose  upon  his  own  heroic  deeds. 
Let  me  the  story  tell  of  one.  On  the  morning  of  July 
1,  1862,  5,000  confederate  cavalry  advanced  upon 
Booneville,  Mo.,  then  held  by  Col.  Philip  Sheridan  with 
less  than  a  thousand  troopers.  The  federal  line,  being 
strongly  intrenched,  was  able  to  hold  its  ground  against 
the  greatly  superior  force.  But  Sheridan,  fearful  of 
being  outflanked,  directed  a  young  captain  to  take  a 
portion  of  two  companies,  make  a  rapid  detour,  charge 
the  enemy  in  rear,  and  throw  its  line  into  confusion, 
thus  making  possible  a  simultaneous  and  successful  at¬ 
tack  in  front.  Sheridan  said  to  him:  UI  expect  of 
your  command  the  quick  and  desperate  work  usually 
imposed  upon  a  forlorn  hope;"  at  the  same  time  bidding 
him  what  promised  to  be  an  eternal  farewell.  Ninety- 
two  men  rode  calmly  out,  knowing  the  supreme  moment 
of  their  lives  had  come.  What  was  in  their  hearts  dur¬ 
ing  that  silent  ride?  What  lights  and  shadows  flashed 

Cj  O 


across  the  cameras  of  their  souls?  To  one  pale  boy 
there  came  the  vision  of  a  quaint  old  house,  a  white- 
haired  woman  on  her  knees  in  prayer,  an  open  bible  by 
her  side,  God's  peace  upon  her  face.  Another  memory 
held  a  cottage  half  embedded  in  the  shade  of  sheltering 
trees  and  clinging  vines,  stray  bits  of  sunshine  round 
the  open  door;  within  a  fair  young  mother,  crooning 
lullabys  above  a  baby's  crib.  And  one  old  grizzled  hero 
seemed  to  see,  in  mists  of  unshed  tears,  a  brush-grown 
corner  of  the  farm  yard  fence,  and  through  the  rails  a 
blended  picture  of  faded  calico  and  golden  curls  and 
laughing  eyes.  And  then  the  little  column  halted  on  a 
bit  of  rising  ground  and  faced — destiny! 

Before  them  was  a  brigade  of  cavalry  3,000  strong. 
That  way  lay  death.  Behind  them  were  the  open  fields, 
the  sheltering  woods,  safety  and — dishonor.  Just  for  a 
moment  every  cheek  was  blanched.  A  robin  sang  un¬ 
heeded  from  a  neighboring  limb;  clusters  of  purple 
daisies  bloomed  unseen  upon  the  grassy  slope;  the 
sweet,  fresh  breath  of  early  summer  filled  the  air,  unfelt 
by  all.  They  only  saw 

THE  DEAR  OLD  FLAG  OF  UNION 

overhead;  they  only  knew  that  foes  of  country  blocked 
the  road  in  front;  they  only  heard  the  ringing  voice  of 
their  gallant  leader  ordering  the  charge,  and  with  a  yell 
the  little  troop  swept  on. 

“Flashed  every  sabre  bare, 

Flashed  as  they  turned  in  air, 

Charging  an  army, 

While  all  the  world  wondered.” 

So  sudden  and  unexpected  was  the  attack,  so  desper¬ 
ate  and  irresistible  the  charge,  that  this  handful  of  men 
cut  their  way  through  the  heart  of  a  whole  brigade. 
Then,  in  prompt  obedience  to  the  calm  command  of 
their  captain,  they  wheeled,  re-formed  and  charged 
again.  At  this  opportune  moment,  while  the% confeder¬ 
ates  were  in  confusion,  Sheridan's  whole  line  dashed 
forward  with  mighty  cheers  and  the  day  was  won. 

That  night  forty  of  the  ninety-two  kept  their  eternal 

3 


J 


bivouac  on  the  field  of  battle,  their  white  faces  kissed  by 


the  silent  stars.  The  captain  was  left  for  dead,  but 
thank  God!  he  still  lives;  lives  to  wear  the  button  of  a 
people’s  love.  For  the  man  whose  sublime  courage  and 
daring  leadership  gave  victory  and  a  first  star  to  Phil 
Sheridan,  was  Russell  A.  Alger  of  Detroit.  (Great 
applause.) 

The  President  of  the  United  States  wears  the  button; 
a  soldier  and  a  statesman,  he  wears  it  for  the  Nation's 
honor.  As  the  selected  chief  of  the  Republican  party, 
his  administration  should  receive  the  cordial  support  of 
every  man  who  believes  in  its  principles.  With  a  Re¬ 
publican  congress,  working  under  business  rules;  pre¬ 
sided  over  by  a  speaker  whom  ruffianism  cannot  intimi¬ 
date  or  invective  annoy,  it  ought  to  be  possible  to  keep 
every  party  pledge.  It  ought  to  be  possible  to  revise 
the  tariff  in  such  a  way  as  to  protect  American  labor 
without  imposing  an  unjust  burden  upon  any  man  who 
toils.  It  ought  to  be  possible  to  complete  an  honest 
census  and  make  a  fair  reapportionment.  It  ought  to 
be  possible  to  protect  every  American  citizen  in  his 
right  to  live,  to  labor,  and  to  vote.  It  ought  to  be  pos¬ 
sible  to  provide  for  the  helplessness  and  old  age,  for  the 
widows  and  orphans,  for  the  suffering  and  wounds  of 
every  man  who  wore  the  Union  button.  (Applause.) 

The  Republic  was  saved  by 


AN  ENORMOUS  SACRIFICE  OF  BLOOD 


and  treasure.  The  blood  was  that  of  patriots — volun¬ 
teers  who  received  $13  a  month.  The  treasure  was 
loaned  by  capitalists,  who  purchased  our  bonds  at  40 
cents  on  the  dollar. 

« 

To-day  the  bondholder^  are  clipping  their  coupons, 
and  the  veterans  their  bandages.  The  written  obliga¬ 
tion  of  the  government  to  the  one  class  has  been  loyally 
kept  by  Republican  legislation,  supported  by  the  sol¬ 
diers  vote.  Its  unwritten  obligation  to  the  other  should 
be  no  less  binding  on  the  conscience  of  the  Nation.  A 


4 


surplus  in  the  treasury  and  heroes  in  the  poorhouse  is 
not  creditable  to  a  brave  people.  (Applause.) 

The  men  who  wear  the  button  are  dropping  away  one 
by  one,  and  in  a  few  more  years  they  will  all  have  an¬ 
swered  to  Heaven's  reveille,  but  their  sons  remain. 
Their  sons  remain,  not  only  to  enjoy  the  heritage  of 
good  government,  prosperity  and  peace,  but  take  their 
fathers’  places  in  the  ranks  of  the  grandest  party  (tod's 
favor  ever$hone  upon.  Most  of  the  sons  of  men  who 
wore  the  button  are  Republicans  by  inheritance,  by  con¬ 
viction  and  by  choice.  They  will  follow  the  precedents 
their  fathers  set. 

I  remember  one.  In  November,  1864,  the  union 
prisoners  in  Andersonville  held  an  election  in  all  due 
form  of  law.  News  had  reached  them  from  beyond  the 
lines  that  the  Republican  party  had  renominated  Abra¬ 
ham  Lincoln  upon  a  platform  which  declared  for  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  to  the  bitter  end.  They  had 
heard  that  the  Democrats  had  nominated  George  B. 
McClellan  on  a  platform  which  declared  the  war  a  fail 
ure,  and  called’  for  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  Thev 
knew  that  McClellan's  election  would  result  in  a  speedy 
exchange  of  prisoners  and  a  return  to  home.  How 
much  that  meant  to  a  man  penned  up  there,  God  only 
knows.  To  walk  once  more  the  shady  lane;  to  see  the 
expectant  faces  of  love  in  the  open  door;  to  hold 
against  his  breast  the  one  woman  whose  momentary  cm- 
brace  seemed  more  to  him  than  hope  of  heaven  does  to 
you  and  me;  to  raise  in  yearning  arms  the  sturdy  boy 
who  was  a  baby  when  his  father  marched  away.  It 
meant  this,  and  it  meant  more.  It  meant  life,  and  hope, 
and  home,  and  love,  and  peace  for  him;  but  for  the  Hag, 
dishonor,  and  for  the  Union,  dissolution. 

THE  RE-ELECTION  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

meant  the  indefinite  continuance  of  the  war;  prolonged 
captivity,  suffering  and  death,  amid  the  horrors  of 
Andersonville.  They  knew  the  issue  and  they  solemnly 
prepared  to  meet  it  on  that  election  morning.  A  mock 


election,  say  you?  Yes,  a  mock  election.  Its  result 
would  never  be  returned  to  swell  the  grand  total  of 
loyal  votes  in  liberty’s  land,  but  in  the  golden  book  of 
life,  that  mock  election  is  recorded  in  letters  of  eternal 
splendor.  (Applause.)  They  took  for  their  ballot-box 
an  old  tin  coffee  pot;  their  hallots  were  army  beans.  A 
black  bean  was  for  Lincoln,  the  Republican  party,  the 
flag  and  the  Union,  but  the  man  who  cast  it  could  never 
expect  to  see  home,  wife  or  babies  any  moire.  A  white 
bean  was  for  McClellan,  the  Democratic  party,  the 
Union  sacrificed,  its  flag  in  the  dust;  but  it  also  was  a 
promise  to  those  despairing  men  of  all  most  dear  to 
human  hearts.  Some  walked  to  the  polls;  some  crawled 
there,  and  some  were  borne  in  the  tender  arms  of  loving 
comrades,  and  with  the  last  expiring  breath  of  life 
dropped  in  the  bean  that  registered  a  freeman’s  will. 
And  when  the  sun  had  set  and  the  glory-  of  evening 
tilled  the  sky,  eager  hands  tore  off  the  lid  and  streaming 
eyes  looking  therein  saw  that  the  inside  of  the  old  coffee 
pot  was  as  black  as  the  face  of  the  blackest  contriband 
with  votes  for  Abraham  Lincoln  ancl  the  Republican 
party.  (Applause. ) 

God  bless  the  men  who  wore  the  button!  They 
pinned  the  stars  of  Union  in  the  azure  of  our  flag  with 
bayonets,  and  made  atonement  for  a  nation's  sin  in 
blood.  They  took  the  negro  from  the  auction  block  and 
at  the  altar  of  emancipation  crowned  him — citizen. 
They  supplemented  “Yankee  Doodle"  with  4 ‘Glory 
Hallelujah,"  and  Yorktown  with  Appomatox.  Their 
powder  woke  the  morn  of  universal  freedom  and  made 
the  name  “American"  first  in  all  the  earth.  To  us  their 
memory  is  an  inspiration  and  to  the  future  it  is  hope. 


G 


* 


ADDRESS 


OF 


HON.  J  NO.  M.  THURSTON 


At  the  Annual  Banquet  of  the 


publican  Club  of  New  York  City 


FEBRUARY  12th,  1891, 

IN  RESPONSE  TO  THE  TOAST, 

"THE  YOUNG  REPUBLICANS” 


Mr.  Toastmaster  and  Gentlemen: 

I  noticed  a  member  of  your  club,  a  few  minutes  since, 
looking  at  bis  watch.  Out  in  the  country  where  I  live 
people  leave  their  watches  at  home  when  they  go  to  a 
banquet.  (Laughter  and  applause.)  It  is  not  so  much 
that  they  fear  the  honesty  of  their  associates,  but  because 
the  morning  sunrise  is  the  time  of  going  home  in  the  far 
West.  (Laughter.)  On  account  of  the  delay  of  the 
train,  I  arrived,  as  the  Irishman  says,  just  too  late  for 
your  feast,  but  I  am  glad  to  be  in  time  for  the  fun . 


(Laughter  and  applause.)  I  was  the  victim  to-day  of 
the  misrepresentation  of  the  time  table  of  the  Penn¬ 
sylvania  Railroad.  (Laughter.) 

Hereafter,  I  will  travel  on  the  New  York  Central,  if  1 
can  exchange  courtesies  with  Chauncey  Depew.  (Laugh¬ 
ter  and  applause.) 

The  political  future  of  the  Republican  party  depends 
upon  its  ability  to  satisfy  the  intelligence,  to  convince 
the  judgment,  arouse  the  enthusiasm  and  enlist  the  active 
co-operation  of  the  young  men  of  the  Nation.  (Cries  of 
“Good,  good/’)  To  do  this  it  must  have  declared 


1 


and  aggressive  policies  of  government,  it  must  maintain 
and  enforce  the  rights  of  American  citizenship;  it  must 
foster  and  encourage  the  development  of  American 
industries;  it  must  stand  first,  last  and  all  the  time  for 
American  patriotism,  American  prosperity,  American 
progress,  and  American  power  as  against  the  world. 
(Great  applause.) 

It  must  remain  true  to  constitutional  Union,  liberty 
and  equality,  and  must  strive  to  increase  the  intelligence, 
the  opportunities,  the  possibilities  and  the  happiness  of 
the  whole  body  politic.  It  must  have  the  courage  to 
advocate  what  is  right  without  regard  to  political  results, 
and  must  look  beyond  the  danger  of  present  defeat  to 
the  vantage  ground  of  ultimate  success.  (Applause.) 

When  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1858,  faced  the  American 
public  with  that  sublime  declaration,  UA  house  divided 
against  itself  can  not  stand;  I  believe  this  Government 
can  not  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free"' — 
he  knew  that  that  one  sentence  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  secure  the  United  States  Senatorship  from 
Illinois.  He  may  not  have  known,  but  it  was  no  less 
true,  that  that  one  sentence  made  it  possible  for  him  to 
become  President  of  the  United  States.  (Great  applause. ) 

No  party  can  or  ought  to  live  which  panders  to  section, 
to  class,  to  nationality  or  to  faction.  No  party  can  or 
ought  to  exist  which  yields  to  the  popular  passion  or 
clamor,  in  order  to  secure  the  applause  of  the  mob. 
(Cries  of  “Hear,  hear.5')  The  great  party  of  National 
advancement  must  defy,  not  deify  the  passing  cyclones 
of  popular  error.  The  Republican  party,  if  need  be, 
can  afford  grandly  to  die;  it  cannot  afford  despicably  to 
live.  (Great  applause.)  It  were  better  to  go  down  into 
the  bottomless  ocean  of  irretrievable  political  disaster, 
with  the  ffag  of  its  unchangeable  principles  nailed  to  the 
mast,  following  the  leadership  of  some  true  statesman, 
than  to  sail  into  the  harbor  of  political  safety  under  the 
banner  of  expediency  or  the  command  of  a  dema¬ 


gogue. 


(Great  applause.) 


9 


The  young  men  of  this  country  will  not  he  hound  hy 
inherited  political  beliefs.  In  every  other  land,  of  all 
the  earth,  the  son  may  he  said  to  inherit  the  social, 
political  and  religious  condition  of  the  sire.  “The  son 
of  a  peasant  lives  and  dies  a  peasant,  and  the  son  of  a 
lord  lives  and  dies  a  lord/’  But  the  genious  of  our 
civilization  is  of  another  kind— in  this  land  of  limitless 
opportunities  and  possibilities,  the  son  of  an  American 
peasant  is  born  an  American  prince.  On  the  broad 
highway  of  American  success  the  barefoot  boy  outstrips 
the  golden  chariot  of  ancestral  wealth;  and  the  humblest 
mother  in  this  free  land,  as  she  hushes  the  weak  protest 
of  a  baby’s  lips  upon  her  holy  breast,  knows  that  her 
child  may  live  to  become  the  President  of  the  Republic. 
(Great  applause.) 

Alarmists  may  assert  that  the  rich  grow  richer  and 
the  poor  poorer,  and  even  the  most  conservative  may 
justly  fear  the  concentration  of  enormous  riches  in  the 
coffers  of  a  few;  but  the  fact  remains,  nevertheless,  that 
every  illustrious  American  name  has  been  borne  by  a 
poor  man’s  son,  and  the  enormous  fortunes  of  the 
present  day  have  nearly  all  been  accumulated  by  those 
who  commenced  with  nothing.  The  American  boy  who 
enters  upon  the  battle  of  life  in  his  shirt  sleeves  is  the 
one  who  succeeds.  The  dress  coat,  the  stovepipe  hat, 
the  cigarette  and  the  English  walking-stick  are  not  fav- 
orable  to  American  development.  (Great  applause  and 
laughter.) 

Every  Republican  President  of  the  United  States  has 
toiled  with  his  hands  for  daily  bread,  and  the  Republi¬ 
can  party  stands  to-day  the  champion  of  labor’s  cause. 
(Cries  of  u  Hear,  hear!")  The  Democratic  party  from 
the  hour  of  its  birth  insisted  that  it  had  a  right  to  buy 
the  product  of  human  labor  at  its  own  price,  and  when¬ 
ever  it  had  the  power,  it  made  the  payment  with  a 
master’s  lash.  It  insists  upon  the  same  doctrine  to-day. 
It  proclaims  that  it  is  the  right— the  right,  mark  you 
of  every  American  citizen  to  buy  what  he  wants  where 


3 


he  can  buy  it  the  cheapest.  1  deny  that  doctrine  broadly 
and  utterly.  It  is  not  the  right  of  any  man  worthy  of 
American  citizenship  to  bay  the  product  of  human  labor 
without  paying  a  fair  price  for  the  brain  and  brawn 
that  enters  into  its  manufacture.  (Great  applause.) 
This  is  the  issue  between  Republicanism  and  Democracy; 
is  it  best  for  the  yoemen  of  this  country  to  sell  their 
labor  dear  or  buy  their  goods  cheap  ?  On  this  great 
issue,  who  can  doubt  how  the  patriotic,  generous  and 
intelligent  young  men  will  cast  their  ballots  in  1892? 

I  am  not  here  to  abuse  the  Democratic  party.  I 
believe  that  all  great  political  movements  are  born  of 
the  honest  desire  of  the  masses  to  increase  their  oppor¬ 
tunities  and  improve  their  conditions.  Between  the 
upper  and  the  nether  millstones  of  contending  human 
thought,  truth  is  separated  from  pretentious  chaff,  and 
it  is  a  blessing  to  this  Nation  that  we  have  two  great 
political  parties  almost  evenly  divided  in  numerical 
strength,  for  it  enables  a  few  thoughtful,  conscientious, 
conservative  men  to  turn  either  party  out  of  power 
when  its  administration  becomes  corrupt,  improvident 
or  unwise.  But  no  man  should  desert  his  party,  or  set 
up  individual  judgment  against  the  wisdow  of  the  ma¬ 
jority,  without  careful  consideration  and  undoubted 
cause;  for  it  generally  happens,  in  politics,  as  in  religion, 
that  over-sanctification  begets  pharisaical  gall;  and  the 
man  who  is  holier  than  the  tried  leaders  of  his  party 
may  be  safely  classed  as  a  monumental  fraud.  (Great 
laughter  and  applause.) 

The  history  of  the  Republican  party  appeals  to  the 
patriotism  of  every  young  man.  It  tells  of  the  heroic 
accomplishment  of  mighty  deeds.  It  tells  of  a  race 
enfranchised  by  bristling  bayonets,  and  a  Republic  pre¬ 
served  by  the  blood  of  the  brave.  Every  constitutional 
amendment  which  extends  the  blessing  of  human  liberty, 
confirms  the  justice  of  a  broader  humanity  and  protects 
the  fullest  enjoyment  of  American  citizenship,  has  been 
written  by  the  pen  of  Republican  statesmanship  and 


4 


ratified  by  the  vote  of  Republican  intelligence.  (Great 
applause.)  Every  existing  statute  of  the  United  States 
designed  for  the  protection  of  the  individual,  for  the 
maintenance  of  our  national  credit,  for  the  development 
of  our  industrial  affairs,  for  the  permanency  of  free 
institutions,  is  the  result  of  Republican  thought,  Repub¬ 
lican  courage  and  Republican  action. 

Every  young  man  who  looks  upon  the  flag  of  his 
country  must  feel  glad  to  know  that  the  Republican 
party  kept  the  stars  of  the  Union  in  the  azure  of  its 
its  sky,  and  he  must  remember  with  pride  how  recently 
this  same  party  has  broken  the  darkness  of  Democratic 
opposition  that  other  brilliant  gems  of  statehood  might 
be  added  to  the  splendor  of  the  constellation.  (Great 
applause.) 

Every  new  State  adds  to  the  power  of  the  Republican 
party.  No  new  Western  commonwealth  can  be  claimed 
by  the  Democracy.  Those  local  and  temporary  condi¬ 
tions  which  control  the  prairie  States  to-day  cannot 
long  continue.  The  West  will  be  true  in  the  next  Presi¬ 
dential  election  to  the  party  that  made  it  what  it  is. 
(Great  applause.)  Wherever  men  have  spent  the  best 
years  of  their  lives  in  building  up  a  civilization  in  the 
wilderness;  wherever  they  have  come  face  to  face  with 
those  conditions  that  develop  true  manhood,  that  re¬ 
quire  courage,  perseverance  and  ceaseless  industry; 
wherever  they  have  triumphed  in  the  paths  of  pioneer 
life,  and  have  wrung  from  reluctant  nature  the  secrets 
of  her  hidden  wealth,  you  will  find  that  Republicanism 
grows  and  thrives,  for  its  principles  are  in  harmony 
with  the  true  spirit  of  American  progress.  (Great  ap¬ 
plause.) 

The  Republican  party  appeals  to  the  courage  of  every 
young  man,  for  it  is  the  party  of  National  courage. 
Youth  is  the  golden  time  of  hope,  ambition,  chivalry 
and  power.  Those  on  the  sunset  side  of  life  no  longer 
volunteer  to  lead  armies  or  reforms.  Youth  goes  sing- 
ing  to  the  battlefields  of  liberty;  youth  carries  the 


musket;  youth  leads  the  assult;  youth  conquers  or  dies. 
The  world's  great  battlefields  have  been  won  by  heroes 
young  in  years.  Hannibal,  at  twenty-nine,  had  crossed 
the  Alps  and  overthrown  the  legions  of  Imperial  Rome. 
Alexander,  while  scarce  the  down  of  manhood  pricked 
his  lips,  stood  in  the  presence  of  a  conquered  world; 
and  the  Little  Corporal,  while  but  a  boy  in  years,  had 
slashed  the  map  of  Europe  with  his  sword  and  carved 
an  empire  from  its  heart.  (Great  applause.)  But  if 
the  boys  vote  the  Republican  ticket,  they  must  have 
Republicanism  of  the  unadulterated  kind.  (Cries  of 
“Good,  good,’'  and  applause.)  If  the  older  statesman¬ 
ship  of  the  party  fears  to  keep  faith  with  the  soul  of  old 
John  Brown,  or  fails  to  stand  firm  for  the  protection  of 
manhood  and  muscle,  the  young  men  will  desert  old- 
fogyism  and  rally  under  the  banner  of  those  big,  brave 
American  boys,  Tom  Reed,  Bill  McKinley,  Johnny 
Foraker,  Russell  Alger  and  Jim  Blaine.  (Great  ap¬ 
plause.)  The  boys  will  insist  upon  a  free  ballot  and  a 
fair  count,  (Cries  of  “Good,  good,"  and  applause.) 

In  a  government  of  the  people,  the  rights  of  citizen¬ 
ship  are  paramount  to  all  others.  The  very  conerstone 
of  National  existence  rests  upon  the  consent  of  the 
governed,  and  free  institutions  can  no  longer  exist 
where  any  man  is  deprived  of  his  right  to  vote.  (A 
voice,  “Right  you  are,"  great  applause.) 

Popular  government  is  maintained  for  the  purpose  of 
protecting  the  weak  against  the  oppression  of  the 
strong;  of  the  poor  from  the  exactions  of  the  rich;  of 
the  ignorant  from  the  subtleties  of  the  learned,  and  the 
man  of  all  others  who  most  needs  the  elective  franchise 
and  the  American  flag,  is  the  humblest  and  the  poorest 
and  the  weakest  citizen  of  them  all.  (Great  applause.) 

The  Republican  party  was  returned  to  power  in  1888 
on  the  faith  of  its  solemn  promise  that  it  would  enact 
the  necessary  legislation  to  ensure  every  American  citi¬ 
zen  in  his  political  equality;  and  the  wisdom  of  the 
Republican  majority  in  Congress  has  prepared  an  act  in- 


6 


tended  as  a  fulfillment  of  that  promise.  This  act  is  not 
sectional  or  partisan  in  its  character.  I  defy  any  man 
to  show  me  where  it  is  so.  It  does  not  pretend  to  inter¬ 
fere  with  State  or  local  elections.  It  cannot  honestly  be 
opposed  by  any  man  who  wishes  that  the  majority’s  will 
should  be  expressed  at  the  polls.  (Applause.)  I  would 
be  the  last  man  to  stand  in  the  way  of  that  perfect  re¬ 
conciliation  between  North  and  South,  so  necessary  for 
the  continued  prosperity  and  glory  of  our  common 
country;  but  when  any  man  in  any  State  is  prevented 
from  voting  for  a  Presidential  candidate,  every  man  of 
every  other  State  is  robbed  in  some  measure  of  his  just 
political  power.  (Great  applause.)  When  a  man  from 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  stands  on  the  floor  of  Con¬ 
gress  opposing  legislation  necessary  for  the  people  of 
my  State,  I  have  a  right  to  say  to  him  that  he  shall 
stand  there  with  an  honest  certificate  of  election. 
(Great  applause.)  When  any  man  stands  on  the  floor 
of  Congress  blocking  with  his  single  objection  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  the  country,  the  American  people  have  a  right 
to  say  to  him  that  he  shall  stand  there  with  a  title  on 
which  there  is  no  stain  of  wronged  citizenship  and  no 
drop  of  human  blood.  (Great  applause.)  I  do  not 
know  that  this  proposed  legislation  is  the  best  that  could 
have  been  designed.  I  do  not  know  that  it  is  free  from 
all  measure  of  objection,  but  I  do  know  that  it  repre¬ 
sents  the  best  intelligence  of  that  majority  in  Congress, 
secured  on  the  faith  of  the  platform  of  1888.  The 
Democratic  party  sneeringly  allude  to  this  act  as  the 
Forae  Bill,  as  if  that  were  a  term  of  decision  and  re¬ 
proach.  What  is  the  Government,  but  the  highest  pro¬ 
tective  force.  What  virtue  in  a  constitution  or  sanction 
in  a  law,  unless  obedience  to  its  provisions  can  be  en¬ 
forced'  What  makes  the  flag  of  our  country,  on  land 
and  sea,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  insignia  of  American 
glory  and  the  safe-guard  of  American  honor,  but  tin* 
memory  of  a  million  bayonets  that  confirmed  it  as  the 
flag  of  a  Nation  ?  (Great  applause.) 


7 


The  Government  which  has  not  the  power,  or  having 
it,  will  not  use  it  to  protect  a  citizen,  is  unworthy  of 
continued  existence,  and  God's  justice  will  not  permit 
it  to  cumber  the  earth.  Yes,  let  this  act  be  called  the 
Force  Bill,  if  Democracy  pleases.  We  accept  the  name 
with  joy.  It  is  a  force  bill,  for  it  represents  the  irre- 
sistable  force  of  the  American  conscience.  (Great  ap¬ 
plause.)  When  has  any  battle  for  liberty  and  justice 
ever  been  won  except  by  force?  Force  compelled  the 
signature  of  unwilling  royalty  to  the  great  Magna  Charta. 
Force  framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  dic¬ 
tated  the  Emancipation  Proclamation.  Force  sang  with 
impassioned  lips  the  Marsellaise,  Yankee  Doodle  and 
Glory  Hallelujah.  (Great  applause.)  Force  beat  with 
naked  hands  upon  the  iron  gates  of  the  Bastile,  and 
made  expiation  in  one  awful  hour  for  centuries  of  op¬ 
pression.  Force  waved  the  flag  of  revolution  over 
Bunker  Hill  and  marked  the  snows  of  Valiev  Foro'e 
with  blood-stained  feet.  Force  held  the  broken  line  at 
Shiloh,  climbed  the  flame-swept  hill  at  Chattanooga  and 
stormed  the  clouds  on  Lookout  Mountain.  (Great  ap¬ 
plause.)  Force  upheld  the  withered  arm  of  Barbara 
Fritchie  at  Fredericktown,  and  looked  along  the  sights 
of  John  Burns'  rifle  at  Gettysburg.  Force  marched 
with  Sherman  to  the  sea,  rode  with  Sheridan  in  the  val¬ 
ley  of  the  Shenandoah  and  stood  with  Grant  for  victory 
at  Appomattox.  (Great  applause.)  Force  found  a 
slave;  it  set  him  free.  It  found  a  negro;  it  made  him  a 
man.  He  cowered  in  the  rags  of  servitude;  force  robed 
him  in  the  panoply  of  citizenship.  He  was  helpless  and 
defenceless;  force  put  into  his  poor,  black  hand  the 
mightiest  weapon  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  this 
resistless  force  of  the  American  conscience  will  go  with 
him  under  the  stars  and  stripes  to  his  country's  ballot 
box  and  see  that  he  casts  his  vote  in  safety  and  has  it 
counted  in  honesty  and  honor.  (Great  applause.) 

There  are  those  who  say  that  such  legislation  is  inex¬ 
pedient,  and  statesmen  have  blocked  the  pathway  of 


8 


human  rights  with  a  silver  dollar.  I  differ  from  most  of 
you,  and  we  are  all  at  liberty  to  differ  within  the  Republi¬ 
can  ranks  in  season  and  out  of  season.  I  have  been  an 
ardent  advocate  of  the  double  standard  and  free  coinage. 

I  believe  the  goddess  of  our  currency  should  have  a 
golden  crown  upon  her  head  and  silver  sandals  on  her  feet. 
(Laughter  and  applause.)  But  when  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  takes  up  the  money  and  abandons  the 
man,  the  young  men  of  this  country  will  revolt.  They 
will  not  be  satisfied  with  what  seems  expedient.  They 
must  have  what  is  right.  (Cries  of  “Good,  good,”  and 
applause.)  They  will  vote  the  Republican  ticket,  but 
it  must  be  the  Republicanism  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  old 
Zach.  Chandler,  Roscoe  Conkling  and  John  A.  Logan. 
(Great  applause.)  We  need  a  revival  of  it  now.  (Cries 
of  “We  do.”) 

Would  that  the  American  platform  might  know  an¬ 
other  Wendell  Phillips,  and  the  American  congress  an¬ 
other  Owen  Lovejoy. 

The  boys  will  stay  with  the  grand  old  Republican 
party  for  protection,  but  it  must  be  a  protection  broad 
enough  to  secure  every  American  man  in  his  right  to 
live,  to  labor  and  to  vote.  (Great  applause.) 

There  is  no  business  interest  so  great;  there  is  no 
manufacturing  industry  so  necessary;  there  is  no  money 
power  so  important  that  it  must  be  fostered  at  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  American  citizenship.  (Great  applause.)  ff 
patriotism  is  so  dead  that  the  trade  and  commerce  of 
New  York  City  cannot  be  maintained,  or  the  Columbian 
Exposition  at  Chicago  be  make  a  success,  without  giv¬ 
ing  up  the  “Nigger"  to  the  Ku-Klux  and  the  shotgun, 
then  let  us  turn  the  pictured  face  of  Lincoln  to  the  wall 
and  cast  the  sword  of  Grant  into  the  sea,  (Great  ap¬ 
plause.  ) 

Thank  God,  my  country  has  not  reached  such  degra¬ 
dation  yet.  The  Republican  party  still  bears  aloft  the 
unconquered  flag  of  a  Nation's  honor  and  a  people's  . 
hope. 

9 


Under  it  the  boys  will  rally  for  the  next  campaign. 
Under  it  the  loyal  legion  will  go  marching  on.  Under 
it  the  American  citizen  and  the  American  home  will 
both  share  in  the  blessings  of  American  protection, 
(Great  applause.) 


* 


10 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED  BY 

Hon.  John  M.  Thurston, 

Before  the  Chicago  Lincoln  Association , 
at  Central  Music  Hall. 


Chicago,  February  12,  1891. 


Ladies  and  Gentlemen — The  State  of  Illinois  has. 
contributed  to  the  nineteenth  century  its  two  most  illus¬ 
trious  names.  One,  that  of  the  greatest  captain  of 
modern  times;  the  other,  that  of  the  patriot  and  states¬ 
man  whose  birthday  we  commemorate. 

In  this  great  inland  .metropolis;  this  chief  city  of  his 
beloved  commonwealth;  this  fateful  city  of  his  presi¬ 
dential  nomination;  this  loyal  city,  which  so  cordially 
supported  him  through  all  the  trying  days  of  his  ad¬ 
ministration;  this  prosperous  city,  which  has  shared  so 
greatly  in  the  benefits  of  that  grand  government  he 
preserved;  this  magic  city  in  which  seems  centered  the 
spirit  of  resistless  American  enterprise  and  courage,  so 
strongly  typified  in  his  life,  it  is  especially  fitting  that 
the  memory  of  Abraham  Lincoln  should  be  forever 
cherished,  and  the  anniversary  of  his  birth  sacredly 
observed. 

Sixty  million  free  people  join  with  us  in  honor  of  his 
name,  yet  he  wielded  no  scepter  and  wore  no  crown; 
but  in  his  life  he  exercised  greater  powers,  called  into 
existence  grander  armies,  and  won  for  his  country  and 
humanity  sublimer  victories  than  any  who  preceded 
him  upon  the  earth,  and  in  his  death  he  reached  the  full 
stature  of  immortal  fame. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to-night  to  review  the  life  of 


1 


Abraham  Lincoln,  for  that  is  a  part  of  the  history  of 
the  Republic.  That  history  remains  with  all  loyal  men: 
it  is  recorded  on  the  nation's  battle  Hags;  it  speaks  from 
silent  lips;  it  lingers  in  the  shadows  of  desolate  lives; 
yea,  and  it  blooms  in  beauty  above  the  sacred  dust  of 
those  who  fell  by  river  and  by  sea.  That  history  should 
be  taught  in  every  public  school;  it  should  be  preached 
from  every  pulpit;  it  should  be  honored,  venerated, 
loved,  wherever  liberty  is  dear  to  man. 

The  contemplation  of  heroic  deeds,  the  study  of  pa¬ 
triotic  lives,  the  review  of  great  reforms,  broaden  the 
characters  and  ennoble  the  minds  of  all  future  genera¬ 


tions,  and  the  story  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  citizen,  pres¬ 
ident,  liberator,  martyr,  should  be  told  by  every  Amer- 
•  ican  fireside,  and  instilled  into  the  heart  of  every 
American  child. 

One  day,  not  long  since,  as  I  sat  in  a  crowded  court 
room,  engaged  in  the  trial  of  a  case  involving  the  title 
to  a  very  valuable  tract  of  land,  there  came  to  the  wit¬ 
ness  stand  a  venerable,  white-haired  negro.  Written  all 
over  his  old  black  face  was  the  record  of  three-quarters 
of  a  century,  such  as  few  persons  ever  knew.  Born  a 
slave  he  had  stood  upon  the  auction  block  and  been 
sold  to  the  highest  bidder;  he  had  seen  his  wife  and 
babies  torn  from  his  side  by  those  who  ridiculed  his 
breaking  heart;  he  bore  upon  his  back  the  scars  and 
ridges  left  by  a  master's  lash.  Now  he  was  called  into 


the  temple  of  justice  to  settle,  by  his  testimony,  a  con¬ 
troversy  between  white  men.  When  asked  his  age,  lie 
drew  himself  proudly  up  and  said:  “For  fifty  years  I 
was  a  chattel,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1863,  ‘Old 
Uncle  Abe'  made  me  a  man." 

The  act  which  set  that  old  man  free  was  the  crowning 
glory  of  Lincoln's  life.  It  was  that  act  which  lifted  him 
above  the  plane  of  statesmanship,  for  by  it  he  not  only 
saved  the  Union,  but  emancipated  a  race.  When  he 
took  his  pen  in  hand  to  sign  the  emancipation  procla¬ 
mation,  he  knew  that  the  supreme  hour  of  the  Nation's 


9 


fate  had  come.  He  had  known  for  many  years  that 
such  an  hour  must  come.  In  his  great  Springfield 
speech,  delivered  June  16,  1858,  he  said: 

“A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.  1  be¬ 
lieve  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half 
slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be 
dissolved,  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  1  do  ex¬ 
pect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided/’ 

Five  years  later,  over  the  signature  which  fulfilled  his 
own  prophecy,  he  wrote: 

“And  upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of 
justice  warranted  by  the  constitution,  upon  military 
authority,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  man¬ 
kind  and  the  gracious  favor  of  Almightv  God." 

In  that  sentence  he  affirmed  the  sacred  character  of 
his  own  stewardship. 

1  am  a  believer  in  an  overruling  Providence.  I  can¬ 
not  so  far  belittle  the  miracle  of  my  own  existence  and 
the  incomprehensible  splendors  of  the  universe  as  even 
for  a  moment  to  suppose  that  they  came  by  chance.  And 
the  Omnipotent  Ruler  who  set  the  earth  to  whirling  in 
the  realms  of  space;  who  breathed  upon  the  inanimate 
dust  until  it  stirred  and  thrilled  with  created  life:  who 
took  a  part  of  the  spirit  of  infinite  existence  and  clothed 
it  in  the  temporal  form  of  man,  did  not  leave  the  multi- 
plyin  g  generations  of  the  God  born  race  to  work  out 
their  own  deliverance  unaided  and  abandoned  of  him. 

His  mercy  fills  the  earth,  and  though  the  prayers  of 
the  desperate  and  despairing  often  seem  unheeded  and 
unheard,  yet  we  know  that  humanity  keeps  steady  pace 
with  the  footsteps  of  the  ages,  and  the  light  of  liberty, 
equality  and  fraternity  grows  brighter  with  every  com¬ 
ing  day. 

God's  providence  has  raised  up  a  leader  in  every  time 
of  a  people's  exceeding  need. 

Moses,  reared  in  the  family  of  Pharoah,  initiated 
in  the  sublime  mysteries  of  the  priestcraft  of  Egypt, 
partaking  of  the  power  and  splendor  of  royal  family 


V 


and  favor;  himself  a  ruler  and  almonst  a  king;  was  so 
moved  by  the  degraded  and  helpless  condition  of  his 
enslaved  brethren  that  for  their  sake  he  undertook  what 
to  human  understanding  seemed  the  impossible  problem 
of  deliverance. 

He  led  his  people  through  the  parted  waters  of  the  sea 
out  of  their  bondage.  He  brought  for  them  -from  the 
flame  and  smoke  of  Sinai  that  supreme  code  of  moral 
law  which  has  remained,  the  foundation  of  all  good 
government;  he  kept  them  wandering  in  the  wilderness 
for  forty  years,  until  a  new  generation  had  sprung  up, ' 
fitted  hy  hardships  borne  and  dangers  braved,  to  found 
and  maintain  a  ^reat  nation;  he  marshaled  them  on  the 


banks  of  the  Jordan  and  showed  them  the  beauty  and 
plenty  of  the  promised  land.  Then,  with  his  mission 
ended,  his  work  done,  his  people  saved,  God  took  him 
and  he  was  not. 

Who  can  deny  to  Moses  the  inspiration  of  omnipotent 
command?  What  puny  human  intelligence  dares  ques¬ 
tion  the  perfection  of  the  infinite  design ' 

A  peasant  girl,  a  shepherdess,  dreaming  on  the  hills 
of  France,  feels  her  simple  heart  burn  with  the  story  of 
her  country’s  wrongs.  Its  army  beaten,  shattered  and 
dispersed;  its  fields  laid  waste;  its  homes  pillaged  and 
burned;  its  people  outraged  and  murdered;  its  prince 
fleeing  for  life  before  a  triumphant  and  remorseless  foe. 
Hope  for  France  was  dead.  Heroes,  there  were  none  to 
save.  What  could  a  woman  do  ' 

Into  the  soul  of  this  timid,  unlettered  mountain  maid 
there  swept  a  flood  of  glorious  resolve.  Some  power, 
unknown  to  man.  drew  back  the  curtain  from  the  glass 
of  fate  and  bade  her  look  therein.  As  in  a  vision,  she 
sees  anew  French  army,  courageous,  hopeful,  victorious, 
invincible.  A  girl,  sword  in  hand,  rides  at  its  head; 
before  it  the  invaders  flee.  She  sees  France  restored, 
her  fields  in  bloom,  her  cottages  in  peace,  her  people 
happy,  her  prince  crowned. 

This  vision  came  to  pass.  Joan  de  Arc,  the  saviour 
of  her  country,  Avas  the  instrument  of  God- 


4 


Who  can  doubt  that  this  new  world  in  which  we  live 
is  under  the. especial  guidance  of  an  active  providence? 
It  woke  the  preposterous  idea  of  an  undiscovered  con¬ 
tinent  in  the  quickened  brain  of  the  Genoese  sailor;  it 
gave  him  courage  to  appeal  to  court  after  court  until 
his  wishes  were  granted  by  the  sympathetic  queen.  It 
tilled  his  sails  with  favoring  breezes;  stood,  at  the  helm 
and  guided  his  fleet  aright,  and  when  he  kneeled  upon 
the  unknown  strand  it  raised  above  him  the  great  white 
cross  of  a  Saviour’s  love,  the  emblem  of  immortal  hope. 

It  gave  leadership  and  victory  to  the  little  band  of 
Continental  heroes  who  would  no  longer  yield  to  kingly 
rule,  and  through  successful  revolution  laid  the  first 
foundation  of  a  popular  government  that  could  with¬ 
stand  the  tests  of  time.  It  inspired  the  pen  of  emanci¬ 
pation  and  the  sword  of  Appomatox. 

Columbus,  Washington,  Lincoln,  Grant — discoverer, 
father,  preserver,  hero!  Did  chance  select  them,  each 
for  his  glorious  work,  so  gloriously  performed?  Let 
the  fool  answer  how  he  will;  I  prefer  to  see  the  finger 
of  Divine  design. 

The  rail-splitter  of  Illinois  became  President  of  the 
United  States  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  Nation’s  peril. 
Inexperienced  and  untrained  in  governmental  affairs, 
he  formulated  national  politics,  overruled  statesmen, 
directed  armies,  removed  generals,  and,  when  it  became 
necessary  to  save  the  Republic,  set  at  naught  the  written 
Constitution.  He  amazed  the  politicians  and  offended 
the  leaders  of  his  party;  but  the  people  loved  him  by  in¬ 
stinct,  and  followed  him  blindly.  The  child  leads  the 
blind  man  through  dangerous  places,  not  by  reason  of 
controlling  strength  and  intelligence,  but  by  certainty 
of  vision.  Abraham  led  the  Nation  along  its  obscure 
pathway,  for  his  vision  was  above  the  clouds,  and  he 
stood  in  the  clear  sunshine  of  God’s  indicated  will. 

So  stands  the  mountain  while  the  murky  shadows 
thicken  at  its  base,  beset  by  the  tempest,  lashed  by  the 
storm,  darkness  and  desolation  on  every  side;  no  gleam 

7  7  c  ? 


of  hope  in  the  lightning's  lurid  lances,  nor  voice  of 
safety  in  the  crashing  thunder-bolts;  but  high  above  the 
topmost  mist,  vexed  by  no  wave  of  angry  sound,  kissed 
by  the  sun  of  day,  wooed  by  the  stars  of  night,  the 
eternal  summit  lifts  its  snowy  crest,  crowned  with  the 
infinite  serenity  of  peace. 

“And  God  said — let  there  be  light  and  there  was 
light."  Light  on  the  ocean,  light  on  the  land. 

“And  God  said- -let  there  be  light  and  there  was 
light."  Light  from  the  cross  of  calvary,  light  from  the 
souls  of  men. 

“And  God  said — let  there  be  light  and  there  was 
light."  Light  from  the  emancipation  proclamation, 
light  on  the  honor  of  the  Nation,  light  on  the  Constitu- 
tion  of  the  United  States,  light  on  the  black  faces  of 
patient  bondmen,  light  on  every  standard  of  freedom 
throughout  the  world. 


From  the  hour  in  which  the  cause  of  the  Union  be¬ 
came  the  cause  of  liberty;  from  the  hour  in  which  the 
flag  of  the  Republic  became  the  flag  of  humanity;  from 
the  hour  in  which  the  stars  and  stripes  no  longer  floated 
over  a  slave;  yea,  from  the  sacred  hour  of  the  Nation's 
new  birth,  that  dear  old  banner  never  faded  from  the 
sky,  and  the  brave  boys  who  bore  it,  never  wavered  in 
their  ownward  march  to  victory.  With  the  single  ex¬ 
ception  of  Chancellorsville,  and  the  stubborn,  doubtful 
day  at  Chicamauga,  no  decisive  field  of  battle  was  ever 
lost  by  the  men  who  sang  with  redoubled  enthusiasm: 


“John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  grave, 
But  his  soul  goes  marching  on 


Gettysburg  at  the  east,  Vicksburg  at  the  west,  rati¬ 
fied  the  president’s  action,  and  woke  the  morning  of 
the  Nation's  holiday  with  a  grand  jubilee  of  joy.  From 
Chattanooga  to  Appomatox,  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea, 
the  hearts  of  the  war-worn,  battle-scarred  veterans  took 
new  courage.  All  along  the  line  they  touched  elbows 
with  a  steadier  purpose,  saw  in  each  other's  eyes  a  holier 
fire,  joined  with  new  inspiration  in  that  glorious  anthem: 


6 


In  the  beauty  of  the  lilies  Christ  was  born  across  the  sea, 
With  a  glory  in  his  bosom  that  transfigures  you  and  me; 

As  he  died  to  make  men  holy,  let  us  die  to  make  men  free. 


For  God  is  marching  on. 


Me  is  sounding  forth  a  trumpet  that  never  calls  retreat; 

He  is  sitting  out  the  hearts  of  men  before  the  judgment  seat. 

Oh!  be  swift  my  soul,  to  answer  Him,  be  jubilant  my  feet. 

Our  God  is  marching  on. 

After  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  peace  and  prosperity, 
all  children  of  our  common  country  kneel  at  the  altar  of  a 
re-united  faith.  The  blue  and  gray  lie  in  eternal  slumber, 
side  by  side.  Heroes  all,  they  fell  face  to  face,  brother 
against  brother,  to  expiate  a  nation’s  sin.  The  lonely 
firesides  and  the  unknown  graves;  the  memory  of  the 
loved;  the  yearning  for  the  lost;  the  desolated  altars 
and  the  broken  hopes,  are  past  recall.  The  wings  of 
our  weak  protest  beat  in  vain  against  the  iron  doors  of 
fate.  But  through  the  mingled  tears,  that  fall  alike 
upon  the  honored  dead  of  both,  the  north  and  south 
turn  hopeful  eyes  to  that  new  future  of  prosperity  and 
power,  possible  only  in  the  shelter  of  the  dear  old  flag. 
To  the  conquerors  and  the  conquered;  to  the  white  man 
and  the  black;  to  the  master  and  the  slave,  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  God’s  providence. 

What  is  the  heritage  to  us  '  Lincoln,  on  the  historical 
held  of  Gettysburg,  said,  “A  government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people/"  A  government  of  the 
people  so  broad  that  it  offers  land,  liberty  and  labor  to 
the  down -trodden  and  oppressed  of  every  clime;  so 
strong  that  the  sheathed  swords  of  its  citizen  soldiers 
need  never  again  be  drawn  to  protect  it  from  foes  with¬ 
out  or  dissensions  within;  so  just,  that  the  blind  goddess 
of  its  temples  holds  in  equal  poise  the  scales  that  measure 
out  the  rights  and  privileges  and  powers  of  all;  so  liberal, 
that  in  its  sky  the  spires  of  every  faith  may  find  a  place, 
and  bv  its  altars  individual  conscience  fears  not  church 
nor  state;  so  wise  in  crafts- of  statesmanship,  in  policies 
of  government  and  enacted  laws,  that  all  its  industries 
and  arts,  ennobled  by  invention,  stimulated  by  intelli- 


gence  and  zeal,  flourish  and  prosper  beyond  compare; 
so  well  beloved,  that  the  bright  bayonet  of  its  honor  is 
in  every  American  hand,  and  the  certain  bulwark  of  its 
safety  in  every  American  heart.  Its  cities  grow  and 
thrive;  its  fertile  fields  increase;  its  inland  commerce 
quickens  all  the  land  through  arteries  of  steel;  its  white 
sails  spread  to  catch  the  favoring  breeze  of  every  sea; 
its  whirling  spindles  and  its  tireless  wheels  make  merry 
music  by  every  stream;  its  silver  forests  and  its  golden 
hills  are  inexhaustible  treasuries  of  national  wealth;  the 
school  house  is  the  pride  of  every  village,  and  happy 
motherhood  the  crown  of  every  home. 

This  government  is  by  the  people.  In  it  the  unit  of 
political  power  is  individual  citizenship.  Under  its  con¬ 
stitution  every  citizen  must  be  given  equal  voice  in  the 
formulation  of  laws,  and  in  the  selection  of  those  who 
are  to  administer  and  enforce  them;  every  avenue  of 
preferment  must  be  fairly  open  to  all,  and  every  child 
of  American  birth,  whether  his  wondering  ej  es  first  un¬ 
close  upon  the  splendors  of  a  palace  or  the  poverty  of  a 
cabin,  must  share  in  the  grand  possibility  of  becoming 
President  of  the  United  States. 

There  are  some  who  profess  to  believe  that  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  citizenship  should  be  denied  to  the 
foreign -born.  But  in  the  hour  when  the  Republic  asked 
for  brawny  arms  to  bear  its  muskets,  and  willing  feet  to 
march  beneath  its  flag,  how  many  a  volunteer  made 
answer  in  his  mother  tongue,  first  learned  on  vineclad 
hills  or  by  the  Zuyder  Zee  ?  How  many  a  dying  patriot, 
with  his  latest  breath,  blessed  Erin's  wave-kissed  shore? 
Every  man  who  loved  our  country  well  enough  to  fight 
for  it;  every  man  who  is  willing  to  abandon  for  it  his 
childhood  home;  every  man  who  longs  for  the  blessings 
of  liberfy,  and  is  ready  to  support  our  constitution  and 
obey  our  laws,  is  fitted  to  participate  in  a  government 
by  the  people. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  it  be  forever  decreed  that  no 
man  can  safely  land  upon  our  shores  to  spread  the 


8 


leprosy  of  anarchy,  or  to  advocate  the  perpetuation  of 
crime.  Those  monstrous  doctrines  which  are  perhaps 
the  necessary  outgrowth  of  persecution  and  oppression, 
and  those  violent  remedies,  which  may  he  justifiable 
as  against  tyrants,  will  not  be  tolerated  in  a  land  where 
the  sovereign  can  only  be  assailed  at  the  fireside  of  tin; 
citizen. 

There  are  some,  too,  who  say  it  is  not  right  that  those 
who  own  no  property,  and  pay  no  direct  tax,  should 
vote  obligations  upon  those  who  do;  but  the  student  of 
political  economy  will  readily  discover  that  the  daily 
wage  of  every  man  who  toils  is  lessened  by  the  tax  on 
capital;  that  to  every  house  rent  is  added  a  proportion¬ 
ate  share  of  the  public  burden,  and  every  article  of  food, 
clothing  and  the  like,  must  contribute  to  the  revenue. 
The  ultimate  liquidation  of  all  municipal  and  govern¬ 
ment  indebtedness  is  met  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow,  and 
the  toil  of  busy  hands. 

•J 

There  are  others  vet,  who  clamor  for  an  educational 

my 

test.  We  are  all  deeply  interested  in  the  elevation  of 
the  masses,  but  oftentimes  we  find  that  the  rude,  prac¬ 
tical  common  sense  of  the  man  who  cannot  read  is  as 
trustworthy  as  the  theory  of  the  college  professor.  It 
is  true,  that  in  communities  where  great  numbers  of  ig- 
norant  people  are  congregated  together,  unworthy  pub¬ 
lic  officers  are  often  chosen;  but  take  it  the  country 
over,  all  great  political  and  economic  questions  are  set¬ 
tled  by  the  ballots  of  the  millions,  and  they  are  gen¬ 
erally  settled  in  accordance  with  right.  Wealth  can 
take  care  of  itself;  learning  is  its  own  champion.  The 
object  of  all  good  government  is  to  protect  the  weak 
and  defend  the  defenseless.  To  the  poor  and  the  ig¬ 
norant  the  elective  franchise  is  both  buckler  and  sword, 
aifd  to  them  it  must  never  be  denied. 

All  great  revolutions,  all  great  reforms,  originate 
with  the  populace.  Those  who  share  in  the  benefits  of 
injustice  and  wrong  never  rebel.  Universal  suffrage  is 
the  safety  of  our  society.  Very  few  men  who  realize 


the  tremendous  power  of  the  ballot  will  eare  to  experi¬ 
ment  with  bombs.  If  future  revolutions  are  to  be  blood¬ 
less  and  merciful,  it  must  be  because  all  just  reforms, 
all  remedial  legislation,  all  proper  changes  in  govern¬ 
ment  can  l)e  speedily  and  safely  effected  by  practical 
methods  and  lawful  means.  So  long  as  every  American 
citizen  may  walk  to  the  polls  in  sunshine  and  safety,  so 
long  as  he  may  enfold  his  conscience  in  a  free  ballot, 
and  have  it  fairly  counted,  so  long  will  the  Nation  be 
governed  by  the  people  in  happiness  and  peace. 

And  one  of  the  most  important  questions  before  this 
country  to-day  is  that  of  properly  guarding  and  protect¬ 
ing  its  ballot  boxes.  No  adequate  legislation  can  ever 
be  enacted,  no  Australian  system  will  ever  prove  effec 
tive,  until  at  the  bar  of  an  aroused  public  opinion  any 
man  who  nullifies  a  legal  ballot  by  fraud,  by  undue  in¬ 
fluence,  by  threat  or  force,  stands  condemned  as  a 
criminal,  a  traitor  and  a  public  enemy. 

This  is  a  government  “for  the  people.” 

So  framed  and  earned  on  that  the  stimulus  of  its  pos¬ 
sible  reward  rouses  humanity  to  its  best  endeavors.  Its 
history  is  replete  with  the  name  of  those  who,  from  the 
lowest  condition,  have  risen  to  the  highest  station.  On 
its  great  highway  the  barefoot  boy  may  distance  the 
golden  chariot  of  ancestral  wealth. 

There  are  dreamers  and  idiots  who  prate  of  an  ideal 
community  in  which  all  live  upon  an  exact  equality; 
where  the  product  of  each  man’s  brain  and  brawn  is 
turned  into  the  general  storehouse;  where  all  occupy 
the  same  model  dwellings,  wear  the  same  stereotyped 
clothes,  receive  the  same  allotment  of  daily  food,  work 
the  same  number  of  hours,  rest  by  rule,  and  recreate 
by  programme;  in  fact,  where  everything  possible  is 
done  to  obliterate  the  God-giving  individuality,  aftd 
dwarf  the  hopes,  the  aspirations  and  ambitions  which 
give  to  life  its  flavor  and  to  the  world  its  charm.  Con- 
finement  in  a  penitentiary  or  poor  house  would  satisfy 
all  these  conditions,  and  1x5  far  preferable. 


10 


The  infinite  Creator  has  never  yet  made  two  beings 
exactly  alike.  No  two  human  faces  are  the  same. 
From  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  each  body,  intellect  and 
soul,  is  an  entity  in  itself,  distinct  and  different  from 
every  other  created  thing.  It  is  inevitable  that  there 
should  be  different  classes  of  society  in  every  govern¬ 
ment;  the  labor  of  the  world  could  be  carried  on  in  no 
other  way.  It  is  also  inevitable  that  there  shall  always 
be  an  unequal  distribution  of  wealth,  and  this  gives  rise 
to  much  serious  discontent.  If  it  were  not  for  the 
accumulation  of  great  fortunes;  if  it  were  not  for  the 
combination  of  capital  in  corporate  organization,  those 
great  enterprises  which  so  rapidly  develop  the  country 
and  give  employment  to  millions,  who  might  otherwise 
starve,  could  never  be  undertaken  or  successfully  car¬ 
ried  on.  Rut  money  yields  a  mighty  influence,  not  only 
for  good  but  for  evil;  and  if  there  is  anv  serious  danger 
in  the  future  of  this  Republic,  it  will  come  from  its  im¬ 
proper  and  unjustifiable  use. 

We  1  ive  in  an  age  of  marvels.  The  forces  of  steam 
and  electricity  have  revolutionized  the  approved  methods 
of  centuries.  The  rapid  settlement  of  the  United  States, 
the  construction  of  great  railway  systems,  the  unprece¬ 
dented  growth  of  cities,  and  the  surprising  increase  in 
values,  have  multiplied  wealth,  both  national  and  indi¬ 
vidual,  almost  beyond  calculation.  This  wealth  is  en¬ 
titled  to  its  just  measure  of  protection.  It  can  be  used 
for  the  great  and  lasting  good  of  all.  But  eternal  vigil- 
ance  must  be  exercised,  lest  its  possessors  attempt  to 
usurp  or  destroy  the  just  powers  of  the  people.  The 
people  have  a  right  to  demand  that  capital  shall  share 
with  labor  in  the  profits  of  joint  enterprise.  They  have 
the  right  to  demand  that  it  shall  never  be  used  to  oppress 
the  poor;  to  artificially  diminish  the  wage  of  labor,  or 
increase  the  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  They  have 
a  right  to  demand  that  it  shall  be  satisfied  with  a  fair 
rate  of  interest  for  its  use,  and  that  it  shall  only  be  em- 
ployed  in  legitimate  business  pursuits. 


1 1 


To  accomplish  these  results  it  is  not  necessary  to 
murder  the  millionaires  or  mob  the  capitalists.  Redress 
will  never  be  secured  by  the  rabid  mouthings  of  dema- 
gogues,  or  the  attempted  reprisals  of  impracticable  men. 
But  by  intelligent,  dispassionate  discussion,  by  legiti¬ 
mate  organization,  by  moderate  and  reasonable  regula¬ 
tion,  these  grave  questions  can  be  settled  on  a  basis  fair 
to  all,  and  no  man  need  fear  the  absolute,  ultimate  jus¬ 
tice  of  the  deliberate  judgment  of  the  American  people. 

The  future  is  not  dark;  the  stainless  weapon  of  liberty 
and  self-defense  is  in  the  hand  of  every  citizen. 


“A  weapon  that  comes  down  as  still 
As  snowflakes  fall  upon  the  sod, 
Yet  executes  a  freeman’s  will 

As  lightning  does  the  will  of  God.” 


And  this  u  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
for  the  people,"  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth.  Our 
nation  has  stood  for  an  hundred  years  as  a  menace  to 
despotism  and  a  hope  to  the  oppressed.  Mother  of  re¬ 
publics,  her  lullaby  is  sung  over  every  cradle  of  liberty 
throughout  the  world.  The  last  throne  has  disappeared 
from  the  western  hemisphere,  and  the  conscience  of  the 
twentieth  century  will  not  tolerate  a  crown.  On  Free¬ 
dom's  scroll  of  honor  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is 
written  first.  The  colossal  statue  of  his  fame  stands 
forever  on  the  pedestal  of  a  people's  love.  About  it  are 
the  upturned,  glorified  faces  of  an  emancipated  race. 
In  its  protecting  shadow  liberty,  equality  and  justice  is 
the  heritage  of  every  American  citizen.  The  sunshine 
of  approving  heaven  rests  upon  it  like  an  infinite  hene- 
diction,  and  over  it  calmly  floats  the  unconquered  flag  of 
the  greatest  nation  of  the  earth. 


12 


i 


HDDRESS 


TO  THE 


4th  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 

OF  THE 


Republican  League 


OP  THE 


UNITED  STATES, 


AT 


CINCINNATI,  APRIL  21,  1591. 


BY 


JOHN  M.  THURSTON,  President. 


'  -r- 


HDDRESS 


TO  THE 

4th.  ANNUAL  CONVENTION 

OF  THE 

Republican  League  of  the  United  States, 


AT 


CINCINNATI,  APRIL  21,  1891 


By  JOHN  M.  THURSTON,  President. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Convention: 

I  congratulate  the  republican  league  of  the  United 
States  upon  the  auspicious  opening  of  its  fourth  anuual 
convention. 

When  representative  men,  from  nearly  every  state  in 
the  union,  leave  their  homes  and  business  affairs,  pay 
their  own  expenses  and  sacrifice  their  time  to  attend 
a  convention  which  holds  no  promise  of  private  gain, 
individual  preferment  or  political  advancement,  it  means 
that  the  republicans  of  the  country  are  determined  to 
make  successful  battle  for  continued  national 
supremacy. 

This  is  the  volunteer  political  organization  of  the 
republican  party.  It  has  no  payroll;  it  controls  no 
patronage;  it  asks  no  administrative  favor;  it  is  devoted 
alone  to  the  advocacy  and  perpetuation  of  those  great 
principles  which  guarantee  liberty  and  equality  to  every 
American  citizen  and  make  possible  the  prosperity  of 

t 

all  who  love  to  dwell  in  the  protecting  shadow  of  the 
American  flag.  ' 

'  It  follows  the  personal  fortunes  of  no  leader,  and  will 
not  commit  itself  to  the  candidacy  of  any  man.  It  is 


3 


for  the  nominees  and  the  platform  of  the  republican 
national  convention. 

The  league  is  an  army  of  privates;  its  officers  serve 
with  the  rank  and  file.  Epaulets,  cocked  hats,  dress 
parade  aud  spectacular  exhibitions  are  not  included  in 
its  plan  of  operation.  It  has  no  desire  to  assume  con¬ 
trol  of  party  machinery  or  usurp  the  functions  of  any 
committee  entrusted  with  campaign  management.  It 
seeks  to  popularize  political  action;  it  offers  to  every 
republican  in  the  land  an  equal  share  of  the  responsi¬ 
bility,  the  labor,  and  the  glory  of  political  service  and 
success.  It  addresses  itself  to  the  intelligence  and 
patriotism  of  the  American  people,  and  proposes  by 
honest  methods  and  fair  means  to  commend  republican 
principles  to  their  deliberate  judgment.  It  seeks  to 
establish  a  permanent  club  in  every  community  and  to 
carry  on  political  organization  and  political  education 
every  week  day  in  the  year. 

All  American  citizens  should  have  decided  political 
convictions  and  ought  to  actively  participate  in  political 
affairs.  The  elective  franchise  should  not  be  exercised 
by  any  man  who  is  not  in  the  truest  and  best  sense 
a  politician.  The  life,  the  liberty,  the  property,  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  individual  depend  upon  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  good  government;  and  good  government  can 
only  be  secured  through  the  earnest,  united  and  intelli¬ 
gent  action  of  the  best  elements  of  society. 

The  delegates  here  present  represent  more  than  ten 
thousand  permanent  republican  clubs.  The  member¬ 
ship  of  the  league  already  exceeds  a  million.  This 
magnificent  army  has  been  recruited  from  the  east  and 
the  west,  the  north  and  the  south;  from  the  city  and 
the  farm,  the  manufactory  and  the  field. 

In  it  is  the  man  of  the  plow,  the  man  of  the  forge,  the 
man  of  the  loom,  the  man  of  the  mine,  the  man  of  the 


4 


shop,  the  man  of  the  locomotive,  the  man  of  the 
furnace,  the  man  of  the  store,  the  man  of  the  college, 

t 

and  the  man  of  the  temple. 

These  men  who  rally  in  the  ranks  of  the  republican 
league,  believe  in  the  nobility  of  human  labor,  they 
rejoice  in  a  land  of  happy  homes,  they  stand  by  the  free 
school  system,  and  respect  the  House  of  God.  They 
demand  that  government  shall  be  administered  to  all 
alike,  and  they  insist  that  American  citizenship  and 
American  muscle  shall  be  protected  as  against  all  the 
world. 

They  read  the  history  of  their  country  and  they  know 
the  republican  party  has  always  been  the  advocate  of 
labor’s  cause.  They  know  this  party  was  born  of  the 
conscience  of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  would  no 
longer  permit  the  master’s  lash  to  be  the  only  recom¬ 
pense  for  services  performed.  They  know  that  when 
democracy  insisted  upon  its  constitutional  right  to 
forcibly  appropriate  the  product  of  human  toil  without 
the  payment  of  a  wage,  the  republican  paity  made  pro¬ 
test  with  the  pen  of  a  Lincoln  and  the  sword  of  a 
Grant.  They  know  that  American  labor  first  entered 
upon  its  inheritance  of  sovereignty,  in  this  republic, 
w'hen  the  eager  feet  of  the  musket-carrying  million 
trampled  the  democratic  juggernaut  of  human  slavery 
into  the  irresurrectible  dust. 

0 

Ever  since  that  time  the  republican  party  has* 
remained  true  to  the  interests  and  demands  of  labor. 

By  wise  protective  measures;  b}r  generous  homestead 
laws;  by  the  development  of  our  wonderful  natural 
resources, .  and  the  diversification  of  our  industries,  it 
lias  divided  the  hardships,  and  doubled  the  rewards  of 
America’s  toiling  masses. 

Theory  can  weave  subtle  arguments  to  prove,  and 
ignorance  can  brazenly  assert,  that  a  protective  tariff 
does  not  increase  the  prosperity  of  a  people;  but  the 


fact  remains,  nevertheless,  that  in  a  single  quarter  of  a 
century,  there  have  been  built  in  the  United  States  and 
paid  for  out  of  the  accumulated  savings  of  its  working-  * 
men,  three  million  comfortable  American  homes. 

Protection  has  not  only  furnished  remunerative  em¬ 
ployment  for  the  thirty-five  millions  who  welcomed  the 
preservation  of  the  Union,  and  loyally  set  about  the 
restoration  of  its  glory,  but  it  has  also  found  profitable 
work  for  the  willing  hands  of  thirty  millions  more.  Dur¬ 
ing  these  same  years,  the  laboring  man  of  other  lands  has 
remained  a  tenant;  in  the  United  States  he  is  rapidly 
becoming  his  own  landlord.  In  most  other  countries 
his  wages  have  decreased;  in  this,  advanced.  Through¬ 
out  the  greater  part  of  the  world  the  laborer  is  virtually 
a  serf,  his  condition  desperate,  his  future  hopeless. 
Gaunt  famine  sits  by  his  cold  and  cheerless  hearthstone; 
his  wife  cowers  in  degradation  and  rags;  his  offspring 
struggle  through  childhood  hungry  and  ignorant,  while 
their  very  existence  is  a  continual  menace  to  the  safety 
of  society. 

Under  our  protective  system,  labor  is  honorable  and 
honored ;  happy  families  gather  around  its  cheerful  fire¬ 
sides,  and  there  is  no  place  in  the  republic  to  which  its 
sons  may  not  aspire. 

I  do  not  mean  that  we  have  yet  reached  a  point  where 
all  labor  can  be  profitably  and  continuously  employed; — 
cm  the  contrary,  the  great  problem  of  the  immediate 
future  is,  how  to  provide  work  and  wages,  not  alone  for 
our  present  population,  but  for  the  additional  fifteen 
millions  who  will  be  with  us  before  another  census.  The 
republican  party  insists  that  this  can  only  be  done 
under  the  continued  enforcement  of  a  reasonable  pro¬ 
tective  tariff. 

Our  country  is  an  empire,  vast  in  area,  unmatched  in 
resources,  limitless  in  possibilities.  It  can  produce  and 
manufacture  almost  everything  necessary  for  human  use. 

6 


Its  citizens  are  equal  before  the  law,  entitled  to  equal 
opportunities  and  possessed  of  equal  privileges. 

There  is  no  class,  and  no  section,  which  should  be 
favored  at  the  expense  of  another,  for  success  or  failure 
must  in  the  end  be  shared  by  all. 

The  factory  and  the  farm  are  the  two  great  producers 
of  national  wealth.  They  are  dependent  on  each  other. 
For  every  spindle  that  ceases  to  bum;  for  every  wheel 
that  no  longer  turns;  for  every  forge  that  fails  to  glow, 
some  farmer’s  plow  will  rust  in  the  furrow.  The  repub¬ 
lican  party  undertakes  by  wise  legislation  to  foster  and 
develope  all  our  varied  and  diversified  interests.  Our 
system  of  protection  is  designed  to  build  up  our  manu¬ 
facturing  interests,  and  thereby  greatly  increase  the 
home  demand  for  agricultural  products;  while  the  genius 
of  the  nation’s  greatest  statesman  lias  coupled  with  pro¬ 
tection  a  broad  system  of  reciprocity,  which  is  already 
opening  up  to  the  invincible  Yankee  the  best  markets 
of  the  world. 

The  result  of  the  late  congressional  election,  and  the 
phenomenal  growth  of  the  farmers’  alliance,  have  been 
heralded  by  democracy  as  the  forerunner  of  republican 
defeat,  and  virtual  abandonment  of  the  protective 
system.  It  is  true,  that  the  enactment  of  the  McKinley 
bill,  so  near  election  day  that  its  provisions  could  not  be 
explained,  its  practical  effects  determined,  or  the  false¬ 
hoods  concerning  it  refuted,  cost  the  republican  party 
thousands  of  votes.  But  before  the  next  presidential 
election  its  beneficial  effects  will  have  become  apparent, 
and  if  any  of  its  schedules  prove  to  be  excessive  or  un¬ 
just,  the  republican  party  stands  ready  to  correct  its  own 
mistakes,  without  destroying  or  emasculating  the  founda¬ 
tion  principles  of  American  protection. 

The  farmers’  alliance  was  undoubtedly  an  important 
factor  in  the  last  election.  It  was  first  organized  in  the 
southern  states,  where  it  has  declared  and  proven  itself 

7 


0 


a  faithful  ally  and  supporter  of  democracy.  Its  organi¬ 
zation  in  the  west  has  also  been  encouraged  by  the 
democratic  party,  as  its  membership  must  be  largely 
drawn  from  the  homesteaders,  and  the  veterans,  whose 
votes  have  heretofore  made  the  prairie  states  certainly 
and  reliably  republican. 

The  importance  of  this  movement  must  not  be  under¬ 
estimated  by  the  republican  party.  In  the  west  its 
members  for  the  most  part  are  honest,  intelligent,  patri¬ 
otic  men.  The  low  prices  of  1889,  and  the  short  crop  of 
1890,  brought  great  hardship  and  financial  distress  to 
the  agricultural  west,  and  its  farmers  naturally  turned 
toward  a  movement  which  at  once  enlisted  their  sympa¬ 
thies,  and  seemed  to  promise  almost  immediate  relief- 
The  time  was  also  most  opportune  for  those  political 
demagogues,  outcasts  of  both  political  parties,  to  whom 
a  famine  is  a  festival,  and  a  pestilence  a  picnic. 

The  hope  of  the  democratic  party  to-day,  is  based 
upon  its  ability  to  combine  with  the  alliance  on  electoral 
tickets  in  the  western  states,  and  thereby  throw  the 
election  of  president  into  the  house  of  representatives. 
In  my  judgment  this  result  will  never  come.  The  men 
who  carried  the  muskets  and  followed  the  flag  of  union 
and  freedom,  will  never  consent  to  assist  the  democratic 
party  back  into  power.  They  will  never  consent  to  re¬ 
place  a  man  iu  the  presidential  chair,  who  vetoed  the 
pittances  voted  by  a  democratic  congress  to  the  helpless 
survivors  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion.  And  the  men, 
whose  homesteads  have  been  secured  through  the 
legislation  of  the  republican  party,  cannot  be  perma¬ 
nently  arrayed  against  an  organization  which  represents 
the  best  thought,  the  best  intelligence,  and  the  truest 
patriotism  of  the  American  people. 

-  While  the  farmers’  alliance  in  the  west  is  honest  in 
its  purposes,  yet  it  is  a  secret  organization,  bound 
together  by  secret  obligations.  It  considers  political 

8 


matters,  and  directs  political  action,  not  in  open  conven¬ 
tion,  or  the  light  of  publicity,  but  from  behind  closed 
doors;  its  leaders' assume  gi eater  powers  of  dictation 
than  have  ever  been  submitted  to  by  any  people.  It  is 
therefore  in  opposition  to  the  spirit  of  American  liberty, 
which  rejoices  in  the  blessing  of  public  discussion,  free 
speech,  and  an  honest  exchange  of  sentiment. 

But  if  the  republican  party  expects  to  hold  the 
allegiance  of  the  western  people,  it  must  see  to  it  that 
western  interests  are  recognized,  and  western  demands 
given  fair  consideration  in  all  legislative  and  administra¬ 
tive  affairs.  This  new  country  beyond  the  Mississippi 
river  will  no  longer  be  politically  silent.  Its  voice  will 
be  heard  in  the  next  national  convention,  in  favor  of 
such  measures,  and  such  men  as  will  give  it  a  fair  share 
in  the  benefits  of  republican  government.  You  of  the 
east  need  have  no  fear  that  republicanism  west  will 
demand  the  enactment  of  measures  detrimental  to  the 
interests  of  our  common  country.  The  west,  in  the  day 
of  its  power,  will  be  both  generous  and  just.  It  will 
recognize  the  fact  that  legislation  must  be  national,  not 
sectional,  and '  it  will  staud  loyal  in  the  republican 
column,  favoring  the  protection  of  American  labor,  and 
demanding  the  protection  of  American  citizenship.  It 
will  ask  for  no  financial  legislation  which  is  not  sound  in 
theory.  Its  sterling  common  sense  will  reject  every  at¬ 
tempt  to  debase  the  currency  and  coin  of  the  realm  with 
fiat  alloy;  but  it  will  insist  upon  such  legitimate  increase 
of  our  circulation,  and  such  restoration  of  the  double 
standard  as  will  fairly  satisfy  the  increasing  necessities 
of  trade  and  commerce.  In  other  words,  it  repudiates 
the  idea  of  making  money  intrinsically  cheap,  but  it 
must  have  such  a  volume  in  circulation  as  will  absolute¬ 
ly  prevent  any  combination  of  capital  from  making  its 
use  too  dear.  The  west  is  not  communistic.  Its  loyal 

and  intelligent  people  will  not  seek  to  destroy  vested 

9 


inteiests,  or  to  cripple  any  legitimate  enterprise,  bnt  it 
does  demand  that  the  best  thought  of  the  republican 
party  shall  be  concentrated  on  the  fofmulation  of  such 
legislation  as  will  save  the  people  from  the  exactions  of 
the  usurer,  the  oppiession  of  monopoly,  and  the  extor¬ 
tionate  demands  of  public  carriers.  That  such  results 
can  be  accomplished  without  destroying  capital,  confis¬ 
cating  corporate  property,  or  murdering  millionaires,  will 
be  demonstrated  by  the  future  statesmanship  of  the 
republican  party. 

Some  who  have  been  trusted  and  rewarded  by  the  re¬ 
publican  party,  have  made  haste  to  prove  their  insin¬ 
cerity  and  unworthiness  by  desertion  to  the  enemy; 
others  have  attempted  to  damn  republican  measures  by 
faint  praise.  We  have  consigned  all  such  to  the  waste 
paper  basket.  No  political  Benedict  Arnold  has  ever 
held  an  honored  place  in  the  memory  of  a  brave  people. 

Let  those  whose  partisanship  is  for  pottage  and  posi¬ 
tion  leave  us  if  they  will ;  we  can  win  without  their  assist¬ 
ance. 

The  republican  party  cannot  be  defeated  in  1892  if  it 
remains  true  to  the  real  interests  of  the  people.  It  must 
have  the  courage  of  its  convictions  without  fear  ot 
political  results.  It  cannot  begin  a  successful  campaign 
with  an  apology,  and  if  victory  can  only  be  won  by  the 
abandonment  of  principles  and  the  substitution  of  policies, 
then  let  the  grand  old  party  die. 

The  republican  party  of  to-day  need  claim  nothing  for 
its  past;  its  record  simply  stands  as  a  guarantee  of  its 
good  faith.  It  asks  the  suffrage  of  the  American  electors 
for  what  it  is  doing  and  for  what  it  proposes  to  do. 

Its  first  and  most  sacred  duty  is  the  protection  of  the 
rights  of  American  citizenship.  Not  to  increase,  but  to 
destroy  sectionalism ;  not  to  rekindle  the  bitterness  of 
the  past,  but  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  perfect  future, 
it  proposes  that  in  a  “government  of  the  people,  by  the 


people,  for  the  people,  ”  every  individual  citizen,  high 
or  low,  rich  or  poor,  foreign  or  native,  black  or  white, 
east  or  west,  north  or  south,  shall  be  permitted  to  walk 
to  his  country’s  ballot  box  and  exercise  the  inalienable 
privileges  of  his  citizenship  without  danger  to  his  life 
or  the  surrender  of  his  manhood. 

The  republican  party  further  proposes  to  protect  t  he 
ballot  boxes  of  this  country  from  both  the  petty  and 
grand  larcenies  of  alleged  honorable  democrats. 

This  is  not  a  sectional  question,  except  in  so  far  as 
ci  ime  against  citizenship  has  become  general,  respectable, 
and  politically  profitable  in  the  southern  states.  The 
democratic  party  of  the  south  secures  its  congressional 
representation  based  upon  a  census  of  the  colored  popu- 
la'ion.  The  negro  is  the  salvation  of  the  south;  his 
patient,  cheerful,  profitable  labor  is  its  greatest  blessing 
and  dearest  hope.  But  he  is  the  democratic  Nemesis. 
If  he  is  not  counted  for  congressional  and  electoral  rep¬ 
resentation,  the  democratic  party  cannot  exist ;  if  he  is 
counted  at  the  polls,  the  democratic  party  dies. 

The  republican  party  pledges  its  faith  that  it  will 
enact  and  enforce  such  legislation  as  will  result  in  a 
democratic  funeral  one  way  or  the  other. 

This  is  not  a  social  question;  it  is  not  a  question  ot 
good  or  bad  local  government;  nor  is  it,  properly  speaking, 
a  race  question.  It  is  a  question  of  right,  of  justice,  of 
law,  of  conscience.  Slavery  was  a  national  sin;  men 
were  deprived  of  liberty  in  one  section  of  the  union 
and  the  responsibility  was  upon  the  republic.  Citizens 
are  deprived  of  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  same  section 
and  the  crime  is  national.  Every  American  citizen  par¬ 
ticipates  in,  and  is  responsible  for  it;  doubly  so  if  he  votes 
the  democratic  ticket,  for  democracy  north  approves  of 
the  wrong,  and  democracy  south  glorifies  in  it. 

If  this  government  surrenders  the  political  liberty  or 
equality  of  its  citizenship;  if  it  permits  its  constitution  to 
be  practically  annulled,  it  will  cease  to  command  the 
respect  of  the  nations  of  the  earth;  it  will  no  longer  be 
entitled  to  the  confidence  of  loyal  men;  the  theory  of  its 
civilization  is  at  an  end,  and  God’s  justice  will  mark  it 
for  destruction,  as  other  great  nations  have  been  marked 
for  lesser  crimes. 

Nor  is  the  duty  of  the  republican  party  ended  when  it 


n 


» 


secures  a  free  ballot  and  a  fair  count.  Those  baneful 
influences,  those  fraudulent  practices,  and  those  vicious 
elements  that  have  so  often  debauched  the  morality  of 
the  American  ballot  box  must  be  suppressed.  The 
ku-klux,  the  shot  gun,  the  rounder,  the  bummer,  the  vote 
buyer  and  the  demijohn,  must  be  banished  from  every 
polling  place  over  which  the  flag  of  liberty  beneficently 
floats. 

On  March  4,  1889,  our  government  for  the  first  time 
in  many  years  became  republican  in  all  its  branches.  The 
administration  then  begun,  has  done  much  to  merit  the 
confidence  and  esteem  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
Its  congress  put  an  end  forever  to  the  power  of  the  parli- 
mentary  filibuster,  and  permanently  established  in  the 
house  of  representatives  the  right  of  the  majority  to  pro¬ 
ceed  with  the  business  of  the  country  in  a  common  sense 
and  business  like  way.  Legislation  has  been  enacted 
under  which  some  measure  of  justice  has  been  done  to 
the  helplessness  and  old  age  of  those  whose  valor  saved 
the  union,  and  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  their  de¬ 
parted  comrades.  Six  new  stars  of  statehood  have  been 
added  to  the  azure  of  the  nation’s  flag;  the  development 
of  our  shipping  interests  has  been  provided  for;  the  act 
to  regulate  commerce  has  been  strengthened  by  amend¬ 
ment;  and  laws  have  been  placed  upon  our  statute  book 
intended  to  ameliorate  and  advance  the  interests  of  the 
workingman.  That  the  act  for  the  protection  of  the 
electors  in  congressional  and  presidential  elections,  did 
not  pass,  was  due  to  the  desparate  opposition  of  the 
democratic  minority  in  the  senate,  and  the  republican 
party  cannot  be  charged  with  its  failure.  The  honor  of 
the  nation  has  been  maintained  abroad,  and  the  affairs 
of  government  honestly  and  successfully  administered. 
The  eleventh  census  has  been  carefully  and  honestly 
taken,  and  a  non-partisan  re-apportionment  made  there¬ 
under.  Great  care  has  been  exercised  in  the  selection  of 
public  officials,  and  the  provisions  of  the  civil  service  act 
have  been  implicitly  obeyed. 

Despite  all  assertions  to  the  contrary,  the  republican 
party  is  the  real  champion  of  civil  service  reform.  Not 
that  lackadaisical  reform,  which  would  substitute  the 
pedantic  absorption  of  encyclopedical  information  tor 
the  practical  good  sense  and  business  ability  of  honest 


12 


and  capable  men  ;  nor  that  fraudulent  democratic  re¬ 
form  which  placed  Eugene  Higgins  in  charge  of  the 
administrative  guillotine ;  but  that  civil  service  reform 
which  proposes  to  run  all  departments  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  on  business  principles ;  to  till  every  official  position 
with  an  honest,  loyal,  capable  man,  and  to  leave  all 
government  employes  free  to  voice,  to  act,  and  to  vote 
their  political  convictions  without  fear  of  the  administra¬ 
tive  wrath. 

The  party  of  equal  rights  will  never  consent  that  any 
American  citizen  shall  be  denied  the  exercise  of  any  of 
his  just  privileges  because  he  holds  a  federal  office;  and 
on  the  other  hand  the  American  people  will  not  permit 
the  ratification  of  any  nomination  secured  by  the  undue 
influence  of  those  who  represent  the  party  in  power. 

The  summary  punishment  recently  inflicted  by  the 
people  of  New  Orleans  upon  certain  alleged  members  of 
the  mafia  society,  has  strained  our  friendly  relations 
with  the  Italian  government,  and  predictions  are  freely 
made  that  further  trouble  is  yet  to  come.  While  we  do 
not  countenance  the  unlawful  shedding  of  human  blood, 
and  while  we  all  believe  that  crime  should  only  be  pun¬ 
ished  by  due  process  of  law,  yet  we  canuot  ignore  the 
fact  that  communities  sometimes  seem  compelled  to  re¬ 
sort  to  desperate  remedies  for  the  extermination  of  mon¬ 
sters,  and  it  may  happen  that  infamous  conspiracies 
against  society  can  only  be  crushed  by  the  brutal  justice 
of  the  mob. 

Of  one  thing  let  all  Christendom  take  notice :  If 
other  nations  rid  themselves  of  anarchists,  cut-throats, 
assassins,  and  lazzaroni  at  our  expense,  the  American 
people  will  protect  themselves. 

Our  government  stands  ready  to  make  ample  repara¬ 
tion  for  every  wrong  done  to  the  real  citizens  of  any 
foreign  power ;  but  so  long  as  we  have  a  republican 
administration,  with  James  G.  Blaine  as  secretary  of 
state,  no  apology  will  ever  be  ottered,  and  not  a  dollar 
will  ever  be  paid  for  the  killing  of  any  red-handed  out¬ 
law,  though  the  navies  of  all  Europe  should  thunder  at 
our  harbors,  and  the  flag  of  the  republic  should  once 
more  need  a  million  muskets  for  its  defense. 

The  New  Orleans  incident  has  aroused  public  opinion 
on  the  subject  of  our  immigration  aud  naturalization 


13 


laws.  The  protective  policy,  which  will  not  permit 
foreign  pauper  labor  to  unjustly  compete  in  American 
markets  against  the  American  mechanic,  must  be  ex¬ 
tended  to  effectually  prevent  the  same  unjust  compe¬ 
tition  of  imported  pauper  labor.  We  can  have  no  sym¬ 
pathy  with  those  who  raise  the  cry — “  America  for 
Americans,”  meaning  thereby,  that  foreigners  shall  be 
excluded  from  participation  in  our  political  affairs.  God 
Almighty  reserved  this  continent  through  all  the  ages, 
that  in  the  fullness  of  time  the  downtrodden  and 
oppressed  of  all  the  earth  might  here  find  liberty  and 
hope.  We  are  all  descendants  of  foreigners,  and  our 
distinctive  characteristic  as  a  people,  is  formed  by  the 
amalgamation  of  many  nationalities  into  one.  Every 
American  battlefield  has  been  sanctified  by  the  life  blood 
of  heroes,  shed  for  their  adopted  country.  The  repub¬ 
lican  party  stands  pledged  to  confer  citizenship  upon 
every  man  who  is  worthy  of  this  sacred  trust;  but  our 
naturalization  laws  should  be  so  amended,  that  no  man 
cau  become  an  American  citizen  until  he  possesses  an 
intelligent  understanding  of  our  political  institutions; 
until  he  establishes  his  character  as  a  law  abiding  and 
worthy  member  of  society;  and  until  his  devotion  to  our 
constitution,  and  his  loyalty  to  the  stars  and  stripes,  has 
been  clearly  shown. 

Two  years  ago  at  Baltimore,  I  accepted  the  presidency 
of  this  great  organization,  under  circumstances  which 
seemed  to  require  such  action,  in  order  to  harmonize 
conflicting  elements,  and  establish  the  league  on  a  per¬ 
manent  basis.  Last  year  at  Nashville,  I  was  unable  to 
decline  a  re-election  so  generously  tendered  by  unani¬ 
mous  vote.  During  my  two  terms,  I  have  endeavored 
to  the  best  of  my  ability  to  maintain  the  league 
organization  throughout  the  country;  to  encourage 
the  formation  of  clubs  in  every  locality;  to  interest- 
the  young  men  in  political  affairs;  to  assist  in  the 
promulgation  of  republican  literature;  and  to  arouse 
the  enthusiam  of  the  best  elements  of  society,  in  favor 
of  that  party  which  saved  the  union,  destroyed  slavery, 
established  our  prosperity,  and  made  the  name  American 
respected  in  all  the  earth. 

At  the  Baltimore  convention  the  statement  was  made 
that  the  league  was  out  of  debt.  Within  a  month  from 


14 


that  time  a  bill  was  presented  by  Talmage  &  Martin,  of 
New  York  City,  in  the  sum  of  about  twelve  thousand 
dollars,  for  printing,  advertising,  and  other  work  claimed 
to  have  been  done  uuder  the  direction  of  the  former 
president,  and  with  the  approval  of  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee.  After  careful  examination  of  this  claim,  I  satis¬ 
fied  myself  that  it  was  unjust,  excessive  in  amount,  and 
that  it  had  never  been  incurred  by  any  one  representing 
the  league.  I  therefore  refused  to  recognize  it  as  a 
binding  obligation,  and  suit  was  brought  to  compel  its 
payment. 

The  pendency  of  this  case  enabled  the  democratic 
press  of  the  country  to  assert  that  the  league  was 
repudiating  its  just  debts,  and  was  unworthy  to 
be  trusted  with  campaign  management  or  campaigu 
funds.  So  long  as  this  suit  was  pending  and  unde¬ 
termined,  I  believed  it  unwise  to  call  upon  the  re¬ 
publicans  of  the  country  to  contribute  toward  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  league.  It  was  therefore  impossible  to 
push  the  work  of  the  league  as  vigorously  as  I  had 
hoped.  A  few  months  since,  the  democratic  judge  in 
New  York  City,  before  whom  the  case  was  tried,  decided 
in  our  favor  on  every  point,  holding  that  the  league  was 
neither  legally  nor  morally  bound  for  a  single  item  of  the 
claim.  This  leaves  our  organization  with  its  bills  all 
paid,  its  just  obligations  all  met,  its  honor  vindicated, 
and  there  is  nothing  from  this  time  on  to  stand  in  the 
way  of  vigorous  and  aggressive  action. 

Now  is  the  time  to  begin  the  campaign  of  1892.  In¬ 
stead  of  waiting  until  alter  nominations,  as  heretofore, 
before  putting  forth  any  effort  to  elect  the  nominees,  it 
is  in  the  power  of  the  republican  league  of  the  United 
States  to  offer  to  the  next  republican  national  committee, 
on  the  very  day  of  its  selection,  an  organized  army  of 
fifty  thousand  clubs,  ready  to  fall  into  line  at  the  word  of 
command,  and  march  three  millions  strong  under  the  re¬ 
publican  banner,  to  a  glorious  victory  in  the  following 
November. 

This  magnificent  convention  is  an  earnest  of  the  re¬ 
vival  of  stalwart  republicanism.  It  is  within  your  power 
to  make  this  country  certainly  republican  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  to  come.  The  old  guard  of  the  party  must 
soon  give  place  to  younger  leaders.  Most  of  those  grand 


15 


men  who  grew  to  the  full  stature  of  greatness  in  heroic 
days,  have  already  fathomed  the  mystery  of  the  infinite 
design,  and  in  a  few  more  years  the  last  survivor  will 
have  mounted  to  his  pedestal  of  immortal  fame.  Their 
biographies  make  those  marvelous  chapters  in  our 
history,  which  excite  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  the 
civilized  world.  High  priests  in  the  cathedral  of  liberty, 
they  raised  the  cross  of  a  new  crusade,  and  bore  it 
triumphantly  through  opposing  hosts,  to  the  Mecca  of 
equal  rights.  The  heritage  of  honor,  liberty,  and  glory, 
is  to  us. 

To  maintain  the  union  they  preserved ;  to  confirm  the 
freedom  they  secured;  to  protect  the  citizenship  they 
conferred ;  to  complete  the  edifice  of  prosperity  on  the 
foundation  they  laid,  is  our  solemn  duty  and  dearest 
hope.  We  are  members  of  that  same  organization  their 
wisdom  and  patriotism  created.  We  are  advocates  of 
the  same  glorious  principles  they  maintained;  we  kneel 
at  the  altar  where  they  pledged  tlieir  devotion,  and  we 
are  inspired  by  the  memory  of  the  knightly  fields  where 
so  mauy  of  them  fell. 

No  other  age,  no  other  civilization,  no  other  political 
power,  has  set  so  many  milestones  on  the  turnpike  of 
human  progress,  as  mark  the  triumphal  advance  of 
the  republican  party.  In  its  unconquered  ranks  let  us 
still  go  marching  on;  on,  under  the  dearest  flag  that 
freemen  ever  bore;  on,  in  the  companionship  of  the 
loyal,  true  and  brave;  on,  to  the  inspiring  music  of  the 
union;  on,  along  the  pathway  of  the  nation’s  glory,  to 
the  future  of  our  country’s  hope. 


16 


\  •  _  '  *  'If 

At  the  Annual  Banquet  of  the  Hamilton  Club,  of 

1  .  * 

Chicago,  held  January  lltli,  1892,  at  the  Auditorium, 
Mr.  John  M.  Thurston  responded  to  the  toast, 
“Alexander  Hamilton,”  as  follows: 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: — Our  patriotic 
forefathers  wrote  with  inspired  pens  the  two  testaments 
of  American  Liberty:  One,  the  Declaration  of  Independ¬ 
ence;  the  other,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  first  put  an  end  to  the  government  of  kings;  the 
second  established  a  government  of  the  people. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  the  manifesto 
of  the  spirit  of  revolution.  It  voiced  the  sublime  courage 
of  heroic  souls;  it  hurled  defiance  in  the  face  ot  power, 
and  set  the  barricade  of  naked  breasts  against  the  bay¬ 
onets  of  a  mighty  nation. 

It  epitomized  the  accumulated  protest  of  the 
centuries  against  injustice  and  oppression;  it  proclaimed 
the  freedom  and  equality  of  the  human  race;  it  fixed 
the  star  of  universal  liberty  in  the  azure  sky  of  hope, 
and  raised  aloft  the  glorious  standard  of  a  new  crusade. 
It  was  a  part  of  the  supreme  crisis  in  which  it  was 
formulated.  It  echoed  the  guns  of  Lexington  and 
Bunker  Hill;  it  was  deliberated  upon  almost  within  the 
sound  of  contending  arms.  The  men  who  framed  it 
were  already  outlawed  and  prescribed;  they  knowingly 
staked  upon  the  issue  their  liberties  and  lives. 

Instead  of  being  overwhelmed  by  the  tremendous 
responsibilities  and  dangers  of  the  situation;  instead  of 
hesitating  upon  the  brink  of  the-  abyss, — like  eaglets 


pluming  first  pinions  for  an  upward  iligbt, — they  rose  into 
the  clear  sunshine  of  the  revealed  will,  and  out  of  the 
exaltation  of  the  hour,  produced  a  document  which  com¬ 
mended  itself  to  the  deliberate  judgmtnt  of  mankind, 
and  won  the  approval  of  a  righteous  God. 

In  launching  their  thunderbolt  against  a  throne,  it 
is  a  wonder  they  did  not  lose  sight  of  the  ultimate  object 
of  the  revolution.  Had  they  done  so,  victory  could 
have  brought  nothing  but  chaos,  and  the  history  of  other 
popular  uprisings  would  have  repeated  itself  in  the  re- 
enslavement.  of  those  gifted  to  destroy  but  powerless  to 
recreate.  The  government  they  assailed  was  sanctioned 
by  time  and  tradition,  endeared  by  inheritance  and  asso¬ 
ciations;  although  it  had  become  oppressive  and  tyra- 
nical,  yet  it  secured  to  the  colonies  safety  at  home  and 
peace  abroad.  It  maintained  law  and  order;  it  furnished 
protection  for  property  and  personal  rights.  To  have 
overthrown  it  without  proposing  something  better  in  its 
place,  would  have  been  an  unpardonable  offense. 

Any  government  is  better  than  none.  Despotism 
is  safer  than  anarchy.  The  world  has  less  to  fear  from 
tyrants  than  from  mobs.  The  frenzied  enthusiasts,  who 
beat  with  naked  hands  upon  the  iron  gateway  of  the 
Bastile,  instituted  the  Reign  of  Terror.  In  the  outraged 
name  of  Liberty,  monsters  have  perpetrated  the  most 
infamous  of  crimes.  Robespierre,  not  royalty,  set  up  the 
guillotine. 

The  men  of  the  Continental  Congress  were  of 
another  mold.  Trained  in  the  broad  school  of  a  new 
world  development;  animated  by  lofty  purposes;  fully 
understanding  the  necessity  for  stability  in  human  affairs, 
they  first  exhausted  all  peaceful  methods  to  redress  their 
Wrongs.  And  even  when  those  failed  they  only  consented 
to  tear  down  the  outgrown  edifice  of  foreign  rule,  in  order 
that  there  might  be  erected  in  its  place  an  enduring 


temple  of  their  own  fashioning,  in  which  those  “unalien¬ 
able  lights”  of  “Life,  Liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  Happi¬ 
ness”  should  be  forever  guaranteed  to  the  American 
people. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence,  therefore,  was  not 
alone  a  defiance,  it  was  a  covenant.  In  renouncing 
dependence,  it  pledged  nationality.  It  promised  the 
American  people  “to  institute  new  government,  laying 
its  foundation  on  such  principles  and  organizing  its  pow¬ 
ers  in  such  form  as  to  them”  should  “seem  most  likely 
to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.” 

The  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  the  fulfillment  of  the  pledge.  That  the 
promise  was  kept;  that  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  not 
broken;  that  an  abiding  union  of  the  colonies  was 
secured;  that  the  world  was  astounded  by  successful 
popular  government;  that  the  ship  of  state  did  not  strand 
on  the  shoals  of  incompetency,  discord,  sectionalism, 
insolvency  and  enervation,  was  largely  due  to  the 
matchless  genius,  the  eloquent  tongue,  the  trenchant 
pen,  the  broad  statesmanship,  the  undaunted  courage, 
the  robust  patriotism  and  the  herculean  efforts  of  Alex¬ 
ander  Hamilton. 

Who  cau  fittingly  tell  the  marvelous  story  of  his 
life  ?  Out  of  its  driest  details  could  be  woven  a  romance 
surpassing  fiction. 

Had  he  been  only  a  soldier,  he  would  still  live  on 
the  pages  of  heroic  history  as  one  of  the  bravest  and 
most  chivalrous  of  men.  None  knightlier  than  he 
ever  set  lance  in  rest  for  lady’s  favor  in  the  lists  of  love ; 
none  with  more  ardent  heart  ever  turned  face  of  faith 
toward  Palastine;  uone  with  a  holier  purpose  ever  drew 
sword  for  God  and  country. 

Captain  of  artillery  at  nineteen ;  Lieutenant  Colonel 
and  aide  de  camp  to  Washington  at  twenty;  the 
.  '-vb  ’  •  •  3 


trusted  secretary,  assistant,  companion,  consellor  aud 
friend  of  tlie  great  Commander,  all  through  the  desperate 
years  of  the  Revolution  ;  conspicuous  for  military  skill 
and  gallantry  on  its  most  stubborn  fields ;  leader  of  the 
forlorn  hope  at  Yorktown  ;  his  blazing  sword  waved  on 
the  final  charge,  amid  the  smoke  and  hell  of  battle,  until 
upon  the  captured  parapet,  it  cleared  a  place  for  the 
victorious  standard  of  a  new  born  nation. 

As  an  orator  he  ranked  with  the  greatest  of  a  time 
filled  with  the  very  inspiration  of  eloquence.  While  yet 
a  boy  of  seventeen  he  ventured  to  appear  upon  the  pub¬ 
lic  rostrum  before  a  great  assemblage  called  together  in 
the  suburbs  of  New  York  City  to  determine  whether 
delegates  to  the  first  Continental  Congress  should  be 
chosen  by  the  people — or  nominated  by  the  representa- 
of  the  British  Crown.  The  occasion  was  most  interesting 
and  important.  Both  sides  of  the  controversy  were  well 
represented,  and  the  discussion  was  able  and  animated. 

A  well-known  historian  thus  describes  the  scene: 
“  At  first  the  youthful  appearance  and  diminutive  form 
of  the  orator  operated  strongly  against  him.  He  also 
displayed  that  modesty  and  hesitation  of  manner  which 
is  the  usual  attendant  of  the  first  inexperienced  efforts 
of  great  oratorical  abilities.  But  he  had  not  proceeded 
far  in  his  address,  before  he  recovered  his  self-confideuce 
and  then  the  vigor  of  his  thoughts,  the  clearness  and 
precision  of  his  language,  the  force  of  his  reasoning,  his 
eloquence,  his  pathos,  his  persuasive  powers,  as  well  as 
the  singular  appropriateness  of  his  delivery  commanded 
the  most  intense  admiration.  When  he  concluded  his 
speech,  his  ability  and  fame  had  been  placed  beyond 
dispute  or  question.” 

/  ^  '  t  ...  (  •  > 

The  reputation  thus  suddenly  gained  increased  year 
by  year  until  at  the  bar,  iu  political  debate,  before  the 
Legislature  of  his  State,  in  the  Continental  Congress  and 

4 


as  a  member  of  the  convention  wliicli  framed  tbe  Consti¬ 
tution  of  the  United  States  lie  stood  tlie  orator  par 
excellence;  bead  and  shoulders  above  all  compeers; 
tbe  acknowledged  leader  of  constitutional  debate;  the 
most  convincing,  impressive  and  successful  advocate  of 
right,  of  justice,  of  liberty,  of  good  government,  and  of 
national  union  this  land  has  ever  known. 

His  pen  was  no  less  eloquent  than  bis  tongue.  He 
contributed  to  the  political  literature  of  bis  day  a  remarka¬ 
ble  number  of  essays,  pamphlets  and  reports,  which 
remain  masterpieces  of  their  kind  ;  and  from  which  the 
statesmen  and  jurists  of  all  subsequent  years  have  drawn 
vast  stores  of  learning,  logic,  patriotism  and  common 
sense.  ' 

He  was  an  intellectual  giant  to  whom  the  intricate 
meshes  of  abstruse  subtleties  were  cobwebs,  and  in 
whose  grasp  the  iron  links  of  opposing  argument  were 
ropes  of  sand.  No  matter  how  obscure  a  subject,  he 
sounded  its  darkest  depths  and  revealed  them  plainly  to 
the  dullest  comprehension  of  ordinary  men. 

In  the  arena  of  discussion  he  wielded  with  equal 
ease  the  flashing  scimiter  of  Saladdin  and  the  ponderous 
battle  axe  of  the  lion  hearted  knight.  The  attic  bee  for 
ever  hovered  on  his  lips — the  fires  of  inspiration  burned 
along  his  pen. 

It  is  impossible,  without  trespassing  too  far  upon 
your  patience,  to  speak  of  Hamilton  as  a  lawyer. 
Though  he  rose  to  pre-eminence  in  his  chosen  profession, 
yet  the  commanding  figure  he  became  at  the  bar  is 
dwarfed  by  his  gigantic  stature  as  a  statesman. 

It  is  his  privilege  and  glory  to  be  first  among  those 
immortal  few  who  wrought  the  miracle  of  bringing  demo¬ 
cratic  government  under  the  nile  of  a  supreme  law.  In¬ 
deed  it  may  be  safely  asserted,  that  he  originated  the 
constitutional  idea;  that  he  was  the  prime  mover  in  ser 

f 

'  r  O 


curing  a  convention;  that  he  proposed  most  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  principles  which  gave  life  and  power  and  endur¬ 
ance  to  the  governmentjand  that  he  contributed  by  his  un¬ 
ceasing  efforts  more  than  any  other  man  toward  securing 
the  adoption  of  the  formulated  constitution  by  the  reluct¬ 
ant  colonies. 

The  Revolutionary  War  was  followed  by  years  of 
political  chaos.  Congress  possessed  no  generally  recog¬ 
nized  authority.  It  had  created  a  war  debt  which  the 
States  would  not  pay.  There  was  neither  revenue  nor 
credit.  Poverty7,  agricultural  distress  and  business 
stagnation  filled  the  land.  Without  standing  abroad  or 
power  at  home,  the  emancipated  colonies  were  steadily 
drifting  toward  anarchy7.  At  this  critical  time,  Madison 
writes,  ‘‘It  is  quite  impossible  that  a  government  so 
weakened  and  despised  can  much  longer  hold  together.” 
Yon  Holst  says,  “  ISot  only  the  State,  but  even  society 
had  actually  entered  on  the  process  of  dissolution.” 

In  this  desperate  strait  Alexander  Hamilton  lit  the 
beacon  light  on  the  headland  of  national  safety — and  the 
ship  of  State  rode  through  the  breakers  and  the  storm 
into  the  peaceful  harbor  of  Constitutional  Union. 

It  may  be  objected  by  some  that  I  am  giving  him 
sole  credit  for  what  was  brought  about  by  the  joint 
labor  of  many  illustrious  men.  Others  contributed  ably7, 
grandly,  patriotically  to  the  great  work,  but,  his  was  the 
master  mind;  the  creative  genius;  the  dominant  spirit. 
The  learned  historian  Guizot  declares,  “that  there  is  not 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  an  element  of 
order  or  force,  or  duration  which  he  did  not  powerfully 
contribute  to  secure.” 

As  certainly  as  Moses,  amid  the  smoke  and  flame 
of  Sinai,  set  up  the  supreme  moral  code  of  the  ten  tab¬ 
lets;  just  so  certainly  did  Alexander  Hamilton,  out  of 
the  crude,  conflicting,  dangerous  and  anarchic  theories 


of  his  day  evolve  and  establish  the  great  constitutional 
code  of  supreme  civil  law,  which  will  remain  for  all  time 
to  come  the  model  of  permanent,  popular  government. 

But  his  public  services  do  not  end  here.  The  emi¬ 
nent  divine,  Dr.  John  Lord,  has  said  that  “to  him  pre¬ 
eminently  belongs  the  glory  of  restoring  or  creating  our 
national  credit,  and  relieving  universal  financial  embar¬ 
rassments.”  Our  financial  sj  stem  was  the  work  of  this 
one  man,  “who  worked  alone,  as  Michael  Angelo  on  the 
ceiling  of  the  Sistiue  Chapel.”  “He  struck  the  rock  of 
the  national  resources,”  said  Webster,  “and  abundant 
streams  of  revenue  gushed  forth.  He  touched  the  dead 
corpse  of  the  public  credit  and  it  sprang  upon  its  feet. 
The  fabled  birth  of  Minerva  from  the  brain  of  Jupiter 
was  hardly  more  sudden  than  the  financial  system  of  the 
United  Seates  as  it  burst  from  the  conception  of  Alex- 
der  Hamilton.” 

He  was  also  the  parent  of  protection  to  American 
industries.  He  punctured  those  rainbow  theories  of  the 
collegians,  which  have  so  seriously  threatened  the  pros¬ 
perity  of  our  country  from  the  beginning  to  the  present 
time.  He  demonstrated  the  utter  absurdity  of  limiting 
the  American  people  to  agricultural  and  pastoral  pur¬ 
suits.  His  prophetic  mind  saw  clearly  that  the  upbuild¬ 
ing  and  diversification  of  our  industries  could  alone 
secure  the  independence  and  permanent  welfare  of  his 
beloved  people.  “The  one  great  national  necessity  was 
protection,  and  this  he  made  as  clear  as  light.”  He  pro¬ 
posed  to  legislate  for  America,  not  for  Europe,  for 
America,  not  for  universal  humanity.  “One  of  our 
errors,”  he  said,  “is  that  of  judging  things  by  abstract 
calculations,  which  though  geometrically  true  are  prac¬ 
tically  false.” 

We  are  the  inheritors  of  his  faith;  we  believe  in  the 
American  idea.  We  are  willing  to  trust  the  stalwart 

.  17 


Americanism  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Henry  Clay  and 
James  G.  Blaine.  '  ' 

•  Tlie  ardor  of  my  tberne  has  led  me  on  until  I  fear 
I  trench  upon  the  time  assigned  to  others;  and  yet  I 
cannot  close  without  referring  to  the  great  service  Ham¬ 
ilton  rendered  in  combating,  and  for  the  time  overcom¬ 
ing  those  desperate  attempts  to  break  down  the  strength 
of:  the  National  Government,  by  the  assertion  of  State 
autonomy  and  the  insistance  upon  the  right  of  nullifi¬ 
cation.  He  maintained  the  supremacy  of  the  Union 
even  when  Jefferson  led  the  assault.  Between  the  young 
Republic  and  its  political  foes  he  interposed  the  shield  of 
those  implied  powers,  the  fullest  exercise  of  which  in 
after  years  was  necessary  to  preserve  its  life.  ' 

And  so  above  the  stormy  ocean  of  tempestuous  times 
he  rises  lilte  a  mighty  cliff ;  around  its  base  tlie  roaring 
waters  and  the  angry  flood;  about  its  peak  the  sunshine 
and  the  stars.  1 

Such  characters  as  Alexander  Hamilton  are  only 
produced  in  some  great  crisis  of  human  affairs;  they  are 
not  possible  to  the  commonplace  history  of  ordinary 
times.  For  centuries  before  his  day  the  government 
of  nearly  all  civilized  nations  was  monarchial  in  form  and 
absolute  in  character.  Submission  and  obedience  to  con¬ 
stituted  authority  was  the  generally  accepted  doctrine  of 
all  classes.  The  atmosphere  of  courts  is  not  favorable 
to  the  development  of  patriotic  or  creative  statesmanship. 
Royalty,  rank  and  riches  do  not  encourage  incipient  am¬ 
bition  iu  those  not  born  to  the  purple.  Courtiers  have 
eyes  only  for  the  favor  of  Rulers,  and  the  affairs  of  king¬ 
doms  are  too  often  administered  by  those  most  willing  to 
prostitute  mind,  body  and  soul  to  the  perpetuation  of 
the  cherished  prerogatives  of  the  anoiuted  race. 

Look  not  therefore  to  any  era  of  unchecked  empire 
for  the  manifestation  of  transcendent  genius.  Permanent 

'  8 


;  f  ,  *  ~ 

•r  \  » ■  '  .  ??*  <  *  ' 

conditions ,  limited  possibilities ,  patient  servitude 
breed  pigmies.  The  dead  level  of  mediocrity  casts  no 
tidal  wave  upon  the  shores  of  time.  But  there  are 
epochs  when  God’s  spirit  moves  upon  the  earth  and 
established  things  are  rocked  by  the  earthquake,  shaken 
,  by  the  tempest  of  His  Almighty  will.  Then  thrones 
crumble,  dynasties  fall  and  crowns  are  playthings  for  the 
rabble.  From  the  birth  pangs  of  revolution  and  refor¬ 
mation  spring  the  giants  of  the  human  race.  For  every 
supreme  hour,  Providence  finds  the  man.  Alexander 
Hamilton  was  necessary  to  the  divine  plan  of  progress. 

A  broken  column ,  an  unfinished  chapter  tell  the 
rest.  At  an  age  when  most  public  careers  are  just  com¬ 
mencing,  his  closed.  His  tragic,  untimely  death  was  a 
national  calamity.  In  the  prime  of  life;  wearing  the  fresh 
laurels  of  accomplished  greatness;  still  pressing  upward 
toward  the  snow-capped  peaks  of  fame;  his  face  to  the 
sunrise  of  his  country’s  glory,  he  fell,  the  consenting 
victim  of  an  infamous  political  assassination,  to  which  the 
sentiment  of  the  time  compelled  him  to  submit. 

But  those  great  fundamental  principles  of  abiding 
popular  government,  to  the  securement  of  which  he 
devoted  his  best  endeavors,  did  not  fail.  Supported  by 
the  statesmanship  of  a  Webster;  consecrated  by  the 
martyrdom  of  a  Lincoln;  confirmed  by  the  sword  of  a 
Grant,  the  Union  of  the  Constitution  remains  forever, 
the  heritage  of  the  American  people,  the  hope  of  a 
rejoicing  world. 

And  the  flag  he  waved  above  the  captured  parapet 
at  Yorktown,  still  holds  the  sky;  its  azure  field 
resplendent  with  increasing  stars;  its  floating  stripes 
serene  on  freedom’s  breeze.  A  million  eager  feet  trod 
the  pernicious  heresy  of  nullification  and  secession  into 
the  irresurrectible  dust,  and  a  million  loyal  bayonets 


9 


decreed  the  stars  and  stripes  to  be  the  banner  of  a 
nation. 

Under  it  the  party  of  union,  freedom  and  Ameri¬ 
canism  will  go  marching  on ;  under  it  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  will  be  upheld  ;  under  it  American 
honor  will  be  maintained  abroad  and  the  rights  ot 
American  citizeuship  enforced  at  home  ;  under  it  Amer 
ican  prosperity  will  still  bless  the  land  and  American 
commerce  yet  sweep  the  sea ;  under  it  American  institu¬ 
tions,  American  industries,  American  labor  and  Ameri¬ 
can  homes  will  be  protected  by  American  laws. 

In  this  hope  Alexander  Hamilton  lived  and  died. 

-  To  its  fulfillment  God  give  us  strength. 


10 


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V 


* 


ORATION 


DELIVERED  AT  THE 


Blaine  Memorial  Meeting 


HELD  AT  THE 


AUDITORIUM,  CHICAGO, 

_  / 

V 

February  2  8  t  li ,  1  8  9  3 , 


BY 


Hon.  John  M.  Thurston. 


- 


*  / 


4  Vjj 


JAMES  G.  BLAINE. 


Oration  delivered  by  Hon.  John  M.  Thurston,  at  the 
Blaine  Memorial  Meeting  held  at  the  Audi¬ 
torium,  Chicago,  February  28,  1893. 


Our  “uncrowned  king”  is  dead,  but  there  are  none  to  cry 
“  long  live  the  king;  ”  for  there  can  be  no  successor  to  James 
G.  Blaine  in  the  loving  hearts  of  his  bereaved  countrymen. 

The  Republic  mourns  its  statesman;  Humanity,  its  priest; 
Liberty,  its  advocate;  Americanism,  its  champion.  All  the 
world  unites  in  honor  of  his  memory  and  regret  for  his 
demise.  But  I  turn  sadly  from  the  public  demonstration — 
expressing  so  fittingly  the  general  recognition  of  his  unparal¬ 
leled  achievements  and  the  full  measure  of  a  nation’s  loss — to 
place  one  humble  tribute  of  affectionate  devotion  upon  the 
heaped  up  earth  that  covers  him  who  was  my  friend.  Could 
I  but  follow  inclination,  I  would  to-night  give  voice  alone  to 
a  deep  sense  of  personal  grief,  in  words  as  simple  as  my 
sorrow  is  sincere. 

The  world  moves  on,  and  by  the  world  the  dead  are  soon 
forgotten.  A  national  character  passes  from  the  scene  of 
human  action,  and  in  the  presence  of  an  open  grave  the  pop¬ 
ulace  is  touched  profoundly;  but  in  the  rush  and  fret  and 
strife  for  wealth  and  place  and  power,  the  tragedies  of  yester¬ 
day,  the  tenderness  of  to-day,  find  scanty  recollection  in  the 
desperate  earnestness  and  absorbing  necessities  of  to-morrow. 
History  may  perpetuate  the  salient  features  of  a  public  career; 
the  orator  and  poet  immortalize  a  name;  but  the  preservation 
of  the  sweeter,  better,  truer  details  of  a  profitable  life 
remains  the  sacred  heritage  of  family  and  friends 

It  is  said  that  a  grain  of  wheat,  resurrected  from  the  cata¬ 
combs  of  Rome,  where  it  had  lain  buried  beneath  the 
accumulated  dust  of  centuries,  exposed  to  the  springtime  rain 
and  sunshine,  has  germinated  into  green  and  beautiful  life. 


4 


So  let  it  be  for  us,  his  living,  tireless  friends,  to  resurrect 
from  the  catacomb  of  the  years,  each  priceless  seed  of  mem¬ 
ory  connected  with  the  daily  life  and  deeds  of  one  so  dear  to 
us,  and  with  the  rain  of  our  tears  and  the  sunshine  of  our 
love,  make  them  to  bloom  and  blossom  once  again. 

James  G.  Blaine  stood  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  as  the  dis¬ 
tinctive  champion  of  the  American  idea,  of  American  interests 
and  of  American  measures.  He  has  been  nearer  the  affection 
of  the  American  masses  than  any  other  public  man,  except 
Lincoln,  and  it  can  be  said,  without  fear  of  contradiction, 
that  he  was  the  real  choice,  not  only  of  the  republican  party, 
but  of  the  people  of  the  United  States,  for  president,  in  every 
presidential  year  from  1876  to  1892.  Twice  he  was  defeated 
for  nomination  by  political  combination;  twice  he  put  aside 
with  his  own  hand  the  mantle  of  leadership,  and  once  he  was 
robbed  of  election  by  a  series  of  unfortunate  circumstances. 
Yet  during  all  these  years  his  fame  has  been  most  upon  the 
American  tongue;  and  in  every  civilized  corner  of  the  globe, 
thousands  and  thousands  who  could  not  name  the  president  of 
the  United  States,  spoke  of  him  with  admiration  and  pro¬ 
found  respect. 

Blaine  was  the  political  giant  of  the  generation;  the  Amer¬ 
ican  statesman  of  his  age;  the  popular  leader  par  excellence; 
the  chevalier  Bayard  of  American  politics.  One  of  the 
severest  critcisms  on  our  popular  form  of  government  is 
found  in  the  fact*that  he  was  pulled  down  so  many  times  by 
the  pigmies,  in  order  that  mediocrity  might  climb  to  the 
highest  place. 

The  presidency  could  have  added  nothing  to  the  enduring 
character  of  his  fame,  but  the  failure  to  confer  upon  him  their 
greatest  office,  is  a  reproach  upon  his  countrymen.  The  loss 
is  to  the  Nation,  not  to  Blaine.  The  infinite  pity  of  it  all  is 
this:  that  history,  in  adding  his  name  to  those  of  Webster 
and  of  Clay,  will  have  emphasized  both  the  impossibilities  of 
greatness  and  the  ingratitude  of  republics. 

Our  ancestors,  in  the  barbaric  ages  of  the  past,  when  vic¬ 
tory  had  blessed  the  prowess  of  their  arms,  raised  upon  their 
bloody  shields  the  greatest  hero  of  them  all  and  crowned 
him  king. 


5 


The  hero  of  the  nineteenth  century. need  no  longer  be  a 
man  of  arms.  Brute  force  has  ceased  to  rule.  Conquest  is 
repugnant  to  the  civilized  instincts  of  the  race.  The  cham¬ 
pion  of  humanity  does  not  wear  a  coat  of  mail  or  wield  the 
spear;  and  the  sword  can  never  again  become  divine  author¬ 
ity  for  the  sceptre.  But  hero  worship  still  exists,  a  deathless 
sentiment  of  the  human  heart,  demanding  for  the  successful 
champion  of  human  rights  the  highest  recompense  of  human 
gifts.  The  hero  worshippers  of  the  United  States,  despoiled 
Jjy  death  of  further  earthly  hope,  will  see  to  it  that  in  the 
memory  of  men,  James  G.  Blaine  lives  forever  as  the  first 
American  statesman;  as  the  originator  of  great  national  poli¬ 
cies;  as  the  prophet  of  the  popular  demand;  as  the  hewer  of 
pioneer  paths  to  national  advancement,  and  as  the  friend, 
the  benefactor  and  the  leader  of  the  American  people. 

The  poor,  the  lowly  and  the  oppressed  will  especially  cherish 
his  name.  He  had  at  heart,  not  the  interests  of  the  rich  or 
powerful,  but  of  the  toilers  and  the  workers.  Not  alone  was 
his  eloquent  voice  lifted  for  the  welfare  of  those  able  to  fight 
their  own  battles,  but  for  the  weak  and  the  helpless  and  the 
struggling.  It  will  be  remembered  of  him,  that  he  always 
stood  for  the  enforcement  of  the  rights  of  American  citizen¬ 
ship  and  in  favor  of  the  dignity  of  American  manhood.  He 
never  doffed  his  hat  to  wealth  or  position.  He  proclaimed 
the  dinner  pail  in  the  hand  of  the  mechanic  as  the* badge  of 
American  nobility.  The  common  people  revere  his  character 
most.  They  never  stood  between  him  and  the  realization  of 
his  ambition.  Politicians  have,  many  times  barred  his  path¬ 
way,  but  the  people,'  never. 

James  G.  Blaine  was  born  in  an  eventful  period  of  Ameri¬ 
can  history.  His  Gcd  given  powers;  his  capacity  for  public 
affairs;  his  genius  of  leadership,  might  otherwise  have  re¬ 
mained  undeveloped  and  unknown.  Providence  sows  the 
germs  of  greatness  broadcast  among  the  sons  of  men,  yet 
generations  sometimes  pass  away  and  no  one  climbs  above 
the  level  of  the  multitude.  .  In  uneventful  years  the  human 
caterpillar  hugs  the  earth  and  knows  no  instinct  of  expanding 
wings.  The  chrysalis  of  human  possibility  is  only  broken  by 
the  earthquake  and  the  tempest.  The  womb  of  the  centuries 


6 


brings  forth  no  giant  except  to  meet  some  desperate  human 
need. 

Had  James  G.  Blaine  come  into  the  world  a  generation 
sooner,  or  two  decades  later,  the  wave  of  his  existence  might 
not  have  cast  a  ripple  on  the  shores  of  time.  He  opened  his 
eyes  at  almost  the  identical  hour  which  witnessed  the  birth 
of  the  abolition  party.  The  burning  pen  of  William  Lloyd 
Garrison  had  just  commenced  to  write  the  first  chapter  of  the 
new  gospel  of  universal  liberty.  God’s  child  of  justice,  un¬ 
heralded  of  men,  lay  in  the  manger  of  another  Bethlehem* 
destined  to  tread  the  wine  press  of  persecution  and  revile- 
ment  for  the  sins  of  men;  and  personified  respectively  in 
Elijah  Parish  Lovejoy,  John  Brown  and  Abraham  Lincoln, 
to  suffer  martyrdom  in  a  holy  cause. 

Blaine’s  cradle  may  almost  be  said  to  have  rocked  to  the 
eloquence  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  the  House  of  Represen¬ 
tatives,  insisting  on  the  right  of  petition  as  inseparable  from 
free  government  and  free  citizenship.  A  little  later  and  there 
came  to  his  childish  ears  the  news  that  the  philanthropist 
Lewis  Tappan  had  been  mobbed  in  his  own  home  by  the 
respectable  and  law-abiding  people  of  New  York  City;  and 
that  Garrison  had  been  dragged  through  the  streets  of  the 
Athens  of  America,  with  a  halter  about  his  neck,  by  an  im¬ 
posing  assemblage  of  distinguished  citizens. 

I'-ip 

The  spirit  of  the  time  entered  into  the  soul  of  the  boy. 
The  impressions  of  his  childhood  did  much  toward  shaping 
the  development  and  character  of  the  man.  In  after  life  he 
became,  and  remained  steadfastly  the  advocate  of  liberty,  the 
friend  of  the  oppressed,  the  apostle  of  equal  rights.  From 
the  beginning  to  the  end  of  his  career  he  never  compromised 
with  his  conscience.  The  rights  of  man  represented  to  him 
such  sacred  and  inalienable  possessions,  that  nothing  less 
than  their  full  recognition  and  unqualified  enjoyment  could 
be  tolerated  in  a  government  of  the  people. 

From  what  has  been  said  concerning  the  influences  sur¬ 
rounding  his  early  life,  it  must  not  be  inferred  that  Blaine 
grew  up  an  abolitionist,  or  that  he  ever  really  became  an 
advocate  of  the  abolition  cause.  He  had  within  him  the 
strongly  marked  characteristic  of  conservatism.  He  was 


7 


in  no  sense  of  the  word  emotional.  Not  lightly  swayed  by  the 
philippics  and  anathemas  of  Wendell  Phillips,  or  the  eloquent 
appeals  of  Frederick  Douglass,  his  views  upon  the  slavery 
question  were  the  result  of  mature  study,  reflection  and  de¬ 
liberation. 

His  ardent  and  powerful  support  of  the  emancipation 
proclamation  in  after  years  did  not  re^t  on  the  moral,  religious 
or  humanitarian  aspect  of  the  case;  but  upon  the  broad 
proposition  of  the  constitutional  power  vested  in  President 
Lincoln  to  preserve  the  life  of  the  Nation  by  whatever  means 
were  necessary  to  the  end. 

The  eventful  incidents  of  Blaine’s  youth  had  also  much  to 
do  with  the  growth  of  those  convictions  which  impelled  him 
to  become  the  ardent  advocate  and  recognized  champion  of 
American  protection.  Ten  years  of  age  when  William  Henry 
Harrison  was  elected  president  of  the  United  States,  there  is 
no  doubt  the  intense  excitement,  wild  enthusiasm,  and  spec¬ 
tacular  character  of  the  Tippecanoe  campaign,  made  a  strong 
impression  upon  his  youthful  mind.  A  child  in  years,  his 
precocious  intellect  was  aroused  to  an  almost  mature  consid¬ 
eration  of  those  important  economic  questions  upon  which 
the  political  battle  of  1840  was  fought  and  won. 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  the  public  discussions  of  that 
period  aroused  him  to  thus  early  begin  the  study  of  political 
economy  as  applied  to  American  conditions;  from  which  he 
graduated  a  sincere  convert  to  that  federal  revenue  system, 
formulated  by  the  eminent  financier,  patriot,  statesman  and 
constitution  maker,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  so  ably  sup¬ 
ported  by  the  fiery  eloquence  and  irresistable  logic  of  the 
great  American  commoner,  Henry  Clay. 

Whatever  may  be  said  by  political  friend  or  foe;  however 
much  we  may  differ  on  the  subject  ourselves;  no  one  will 
ever  question  James  G.  Blaine's  profound  conviction — forti¬ 
fied  by  years  of  practical  experience,  patient  investigation  and 
patriotic  consideration — that  the  ultimate  prosperity  of 
American  enterprise;  the  dignity  of  American  labor;  the  up¬ 
building  of  American  industries,  and  the  maintenance  of 
American  institutions,  could  be  best  secured  by  a  duty  on 


8 


manufactured  products  fairly  representing  the  difference 
between  the  scale  of  wages  abroad  and  at  home. 

Let  the  final  decision  of  the  American  people  on  the  tariff 
question  be  as  it  may,  it  is  a  matter  of  universal  congratula¬ 
tion  that  the  subject  has  been  so  thoroughly  expounded;  so 
brilliantly  illuminated  by  the  numerous,  exhaustive  and 
statesmanlike  utterances  of  James  G.  Blaine.  No  American 
college  library  is  complete,  unless  it  contains  a  collection  of 

his  tariff  speeches;  and  their  careful  study  and  analysis  should 

* 

be  an  indispensable  requirement  of  American  collegiate  edu¬ 
cation. 

This  is  not  partisanship;  it  is  patriotism.  Our  country  is 
worth  more  to  us  than  any  party.  If  there  shall  ever  be  a 
political  organization  which  dare  not  turn  the  calcium  light 
of  truth  upon  the  convention  platform;  which  dare  not  chal¬ 
lenge  free  discussion;  which  dare  not  trust  the  enlightened, 
patriotic  judgment  of  an  intelligent  people,  that  organization 
has  no  right  to  exist.  Yea,  and  if  any  party,  no  matter  how 
glorious  its  past,  forgets  the  supreme  inspiration  of  its  crea¬ 
tion;  abandons  the  sublime  tenets  of  its  faith;  suffers  its 
solemn  pledges  to  be  broken;  apologizes  for  a  violated  consti¬ 
tution;  becomes  indifferent  to  wronged  citizenship  and  no 
longer  stands  for  the  welfare  of  the  common  people — for 
God’s  sake  let  that  party  die;  the  Republic  can  better  live 
without  it. 

Whatever  else  we  are,  we  are  Americans.  For  American 

principles  and  American  interests,  first,  last  and  all  the  time. 

Let  the  American  flag  float  over  every  American  school  house; 

let  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  be  taught  in  every 

public  school;  let  loyalty  to  American  institutions  be  the  test 

of  American  citizenship;  set  the  stars  of  the  Union  in  the 

•  *  _ 

hearts  of  our  children,  and  the  glory  of  the  Republic  will 

remain  forever. 

Let  the  history  of  our  country  contain  the  true  story  of 
every  American  battlefield  from  Lexington  to  Appomattox. 
It  does  not  matter  whether  the  American  cradle  is  rocked  to 
the  music  of  “Yankee  Doodle,”  or  the  lullaby  of  “Dixie,”  if 
the  flag  of  the  nation  is  displayed  above  it.  And  the  Ameri¬ 
can  baby  can  be  safely  trusted  to  pull  about  the  floor  the 


9 


rusty  scabbard  and  the  battered  canteen — whether  the  inher¬ 
itance  be  from  blue  or  gray — if  from  the  breast  of  a  true 
mother  and  the  lips  of  a  brave  father  its  little  soul  is  filled 
with  the  glory  of  the  American  constellation. 

Open  wide  the  gates  of  Castle  Garden  to  every  honest, 
liberty  loving,  God  fearing,  government  supporting,  labor 
seeking  man;  but  close  them  at  once  and  forever  against  all 
whose  blood,  whose  birth,  whose  condition,  whose  teachings, 
whose  practices,  whose  religion,  would  corrupt  American 
society;  reduce  the  standard  of  American  manhood;  lessen 
the  opportunities  of  American  labor,  or  menace  the  perman¬ 
ency  of  free  government. 

Blaine  graduated  from  college  at  seventeen  years  of  age, 
and  immediately  commenced  active  life  as  a  teacher.  At 
twenty  he  was  summoned  home  to  attend  his  dying  father. 
By  that  father’s  open  grave  he  passed  from  youth  to  man¬ 
hood.  From  that  hour  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources 
and  faced  the  world  alone. 

The  year  1850  is  a  memorable  one.  It  marked  a  distinct 
era  in  the  political  thought  of  the  country  and  made  a  pro¬ 
found  impression  on  the  minds  of  patriotic  men.  The  north 
and  the  south,  the  free  states  and  the  slave  states,  found 
themselves  arrayed  against  each  other  in  violent  and  absorb¬ 
ing  conflict.  The  irrepressible  warfare  between  right  and 
wrong,  humanity  and  oppression,  the  Union  and  secession, 
was  fairly  on.  A  convention  of  the  slave-holding  states  was 
called  to  meet  at  Nashville  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the 
possible  separation  of  the  sections.  The  celebrated  compro¬ 
mise  resolutions  of  Clay  were  before  the  Senate,  and  the  crisis 
of  the  situation  was  reached  with  the  passage  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law  in  September.  When  that  infamous  measure 
became  law,  the  clock  of  fate  struck  twelve  for  slavery. 

The  two  contending  theories  of  our  government  had  at  last 
joined  issue  upon  lines  which  made  it  impossible  that  there 

should  ever  come  reconciliation  or  security  until  the  one  or 
the  other  was  established  throughout  the  entire  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land.  Washington,  Adams  and  Hamilton 
stood  for  a  federal  government  possessing  whatever  implied 
constitutional  powers  were  necessary  to  preserve  its  life. 


10 


Washington  in  his  farewell  address,  declared  that  “the  Union 
is  the  edifice  of  our  real  independence,  the  support  of  our 
tranquility  at  home,  our  peace  abroad,  our  prosperity, 
our  safety,  and  of  the  very  liberty  which  we  so  highly  prize.” 
“For  this  Union  we  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  im¬ 
moveable  attachment,  and  should  discountenance  whatever 
may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can  in  any  event  be 
abandoned.  ” 

/ 

Jefferson,  on  the  other  hand,  maintained  the  sovereignty  of 
the  state;  insisted  that  the  Union  was  no  more  than  a  volun¬ 
tary  confederation  dependent  upon  the  consent  of  each 
commonwealth.  Those  who  followed  him  in  after  years 
carried  his  contention  to  its  legitimate  conclusion  in  the 
assertion  of  the  alleged  right  of  nullification  and  seces¬ 
sion. 

These  two  theories  might  never  have  been  put  to  the  test 
except  for  the  existence  of  the  institution  of  slavery  and  its 
localization  in  one  particular  section  of  the  Union. 

The  fugitive  slave  law  broke  up  the  whig  party,  After  its 
passage  it  was  impossible  that  any  political  organization 
should  successfully  combat  the  slave-holding  power,  which 
did  not  stand  in  favor  of  free  speech,  free  soil  and  free  men. 

At  this  trying  period  in  the  history  of  our  Nation,  its  three 
great  statesmen  and  congressional  leaders  passed  from  the 

scene  of  human  action. 

That  Blaine  had  been  a  careful  student  of  the  lives,  utter¬ 
ances,  principles  and  accomplishments  of  Calhoun,  Webster 
and  Clay,  is  attested  by  his  whole  career.  His  judgment  of 
the  men  and  his  convictions  upon  the  doctrines  they  so  ably 
expounded  is  best  evidenced  by  his  own  words: 

Of  Calhoun  he  says:  “To  the  majority  of  the  people  in 
the  slave-holding  states  he  was  as  an  inspired  leader  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  He  taught  the  philosophy  and 
supplied  the  arguments  to  the  ambitious  generation  of 
public  men  who  came  after  him,  and  who  were  prepared,  as 
he  was  not,  to  force  the  issue  to  the  arbitrament  of  arms. 
*  *  *  *  *  History  will  adjudge  him  to  have  been 
single-hearted  and  honest  in  his  political  creed.  It  will 
equally  adjudge  him  to  have  been  wrong  in  his  theory  of  the 


11 


Federal  Government  and  dead  to  the  awakened  sentiment  of 
Christendom  in  li is  views  concerning  the  enslavement  of 
men.” 

Of  Webster,  Blaine  declares:  “His  speech  in  reply  to 
Hayne  in  1830  was  like  an  amendment  to  the  constitution; 
it  corrected  traditions,  changed  convictions,  revolutionized 
conclusions;  it  gave  to  the  friends  of  the  Union  the  abund¬ 
ant  logic  which  established  the  right  and  the  power  of  the 
government  to  preserve  itself.” 

Of  Clay,  Blaine  has  so  fittingly  written  what  history  will 
repeat  of  himself:  “His  memory  is  lastingly  identified  with 
issues  that  are  still  vital  and  powerful;  he  advanced  the 
doctrine  of  protection  to  the  stately  dignity  of  the  American 
system.  Discarding  the  theories  and  overthrowing  the  dogma 
of  strict  construction,  he  committed  the  general  government 
irrevocably  to  internal  improvements.  Condemning  the 
worthless  system  of  paper  money  imposed  upon  the  people 
by  irresponsible  state  banks,  he  stood  firmly  for  a  national 
currency.  ******  Mr.  Clay  possessed 
extraordinary  sagacity  in  public  affairs,  seeing  and  foreseeing 
where  others  were  blinded  by  ignorance  or  prejudice.  He 
was  a  statesman  by  intuition,  finding  a  remedy  before  others 
could  discover  the  disease.  ******  Other 
men  have  excelled  him  in  specific  powers,  but  in  the 
rare  combination  of  qualities  which  constitute  at  once  the 
matchless  leader  of  party  and  the  statesman  of  consumate 
ability  and  inexhaustible  resource,  he  has  never  been  sur¬ 
passed  by  any  man  speaking  the  English  tongue.” 

With  the  practical  dissolution  of  the  whig  party,  in  1852, 
it  became  necessary  for  the  friends  of  liberty,  humanity  and 
union,  to  found  a  new  political  organization.  The  quickened 
conscience  of  the  country  brought  into  existence  the  repub¬ 
lican  party.  James  G.  Blaine  was  one  of  its  first  members. 

Having  moved  to  Augusta,  Maine,  in  1854,  he  gave  up  his 
profession  as  a  teacher  and  availed  himself  of  an  opportunity 
to  enter  the  journalistic  world,  as  editor  of  the  Kennebec 
Journal .  In  that  sheet  he  first  gave  utterance  to  his  political 
convictions.  In  1855,  speaking  of  the  republican  party,  he 
said:  “  Long  may  it  live  to  protect  our  interests,  develop 


12 


/ 


our  resources,  and  under  all  circumstances  dare  to  do  right, 
and  trust  the  consequences  to  Infinite  Wisdom.  Let  it  be 
not  merely  the  inauguration  of  a  new  party,  but  the  exalta¬ 
tion  of  principle  above  party.”  This  declaration  is  a  true 
index  of  the  character  of  the  man. 

Blaine  was  always  intensely  in  earnest;  advocating  only 
what  he  believed  to  be  right,  fearlessly  denouncing  what  he 
believed  to  be  wrong.  He  always  urged  his  countrymen  to 
stand  by  their  principles  at  the  hazard  of  defeat,  rather  than 
to  surrender  a  single  conviction  for  the  promise  of  success. 

If  I  could  teach  the  youth  of  this  land  but  one  great  pre¬ 
cept,  it  would  be  this:  It  were  better  to  go  down  into  the 
bottomless  ocean  of  irretrievable  political  disaster,  following 
a  great  commander  for  a  great  cause,  than  to  ride  into  the 
harbor  of  political  safety  under  the  banner  of  expediency  or 
the  leadership  of  a  political  dwarf. 

The  practical  beginning  of  Blaine’s  public  career  was  in 
1856,  when  he  was  elected  delegate  to  the  first  republican 
national  convention.  In  1858  he  became  a  member  of  the 
lower  house  of  the  Maine  legislature,  in  which  body  he 
remained  until  his  election  to  congress,  in  the  fall  of  1862, 
serving  four  consecutive  terms  —  the  last  two  as  Speaker. 
From  the  very  start  he  developed  that  rare  genius  for  leader¬ 
ship  which  is  the  most  distinguishing  characteristic  of  great¬ 
ness  in  every  age. 

His  first  important  speech,  which  brought  him  at  once 
into  national  prominence,  was  delivered  in  the  Maine  legisla¬ 
ture,  March  7,  1862,  in  support  of  a  series  of  resolutions 
endorsing  the  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the 
conduct  of  the  war;  insisting  upon  the  constitutional  right 
and  duty  of  congress  to  accept  “  the  services  of  all  able- 
bodied  men  of  whatever  status,  ”  and  demanding  the  confisca¬ 
tion  of  the  estates  of  rebels,  and  the  liberation  of  every  slave 
claimed  by  any  person  in  arms  against  the  United  States  or 
aiding  and  abetting  the  rebellion.  His  most  noticeable  utter¬ 
ance  was  as  follows:  “  I  have  said,  sir,  that  the  legislation 
demanded  is  entirely  within  the  power  of  congress,  without 
infringing  the  constitution,  or  rather,  in  direct  pursuance  of 
the  war  power  of  that  instrument  as  expounded  by  Hamilton 


13 


and  Henry,  by  Adams  and  Webster,  by  Marshall  and  Kent 
*  *  *  *  *  *  But  ]est  tpe  gentleman  should  infer  that 

I  shrink  from  the  logical  consequences  of  some  propositions 
which  I  have  laid  down  as  ultimate  steps,  I  tell  him  abso¬ 
lutely  that  if  the  life  of  the  nation  seemed  to  demand  the 
violation  of  the  constitution,  I  would  violate  it;  and  in  taking 
this  ground  I  am  but  repeating  the  expression  of  President 
Lincoln  in  his  message,  when  he  declared  that  “it  were 
better  to  violate  one  provision  than  that  all  should  perish.” 

Blaine’s  ardent  advocacy  of  the  Union  cause,  through  the 
press,  from  the  rostrum,  in  the  Maine  legislature,  and  after¬ 
wards  in  the  congress  of  the  United  States,  contributed 
powerfully  to  the  creation  of  that  public  sentiment  in  the 
north,  which  brought  to  the  war  measures  of  Lincoln’s 
administration  the  necessary  support  of  a  general  public 
approval. 

Blaine  entered  the  Thirty-eighth  congress  at  the  age  of 
thirty-three,  on  December  7,  1863.  There  for  the  first  time 
ho  met  young  Garfield,  direct  from  the  army  of  the  Cumber¬ 
land,  who  had  doffed  the  uniform  of  a  Major-General  only  two 
days  before.  From  that  hour  they  became  devoted  friends 
and  co-laborers  in  the  maintenance  of  the  Union  cause  and 
the  subsequent  support  of  the  republican  part)7.  Of  this 
congress  Blaine  says:  “  The  Thirty-eighth  congress  is  pre- 
eminently  entitled  in  history  to  the  designation  of  the  war 
congress.  It  was  elected  while  the  war  was  flagrant,  and 
every  member  was  chosen  upon  the  issues  involved  in  the 
continuance  of  the  struggle.” 

Blaine  served  in  congress  fourteen  consecutive  years.  Of 
that  character  of  service  he  has  truly  said:  “There  is  no  test 
of  a  man’s  ability  in  any  department  of  public  life,  more 
severe  than  service  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  There 
is  no  place  where  so  little  deference  is  paid  to  reputation  pre¬ 
viously  acquired  or  to  eminence  won  outside;  no  place  where 
so  little  consideration  is  shown  for  the  feelings  or  the  failures 
of  beginners.  What  a  man  gajns  in  the  house  he  gains  by  sheer 
force  of  his  own  character;  and  if  lie  loses  and  falls  back,  he 
must  expect  no  mercy  and  will  receive  no  sympathy.  It  is  a 
field  in  which  the  survival  of  the  strongest  is  the  recognized 


14 


rule,  and  where  no  pretense  can  deceive  and  no  glamor  can 
mislead;  the  real  man  is  discovered,  his  worth  is  impartially 
weighed,  his  rank  is  irreversibly  decreed.”  Adjudged  by  this 
test,  Blaine  is  the  grandest  character  of  his  time. 

He  achieved  such  distinction  in  the  House  of  Representatives 
as  has  been  accorded  to  no  other  man  in  the  history  of  the 
Republic.  He  participated  prominently  in  all  the  great  de¬ 
bates  and  was  a  powerful  advocate  of  all  those  important 
measures  which  secured  the  restoration  of  the  Union;  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  colored  race;  the  settlement  of  all 
grave  questions  growing  out  of  the  war;  the  maintenance  of 
the  national  credit  and  the  soundness  of  the  currency.  Last, 
but  not  least,  he  became  the  acknowledged  champion  of  the 
protective  policy  of  the  republican  party,  on  the  distinctive 
proposition  that  American  markets  and  American  oppor¬ 
tunities  should,  by  the  Federal  Government,  be  secured  to 
American  men.  Blaine  was  the  great  parliamentary  leader  of 
his  time;  the  worthy  successor  to  Clay,  Douglas  and 
Stevens. 

On  March  4th,  1869,  he  was  elected  Speaker  of  the  National 
House  of  Representatives,  which  important  position  he  held 
for  six  years.  All  parties  joined  in  doing  him  honor  at  the 
close  of  his  term.  It  can  fairly  be  said  of  him  that  he  was  the 
most  successful  Speaker  in  the  history  of  congressional  affairs. 
Much  of  his  deserved  popularity  came  to  him  by  reason  of 
the  cool,  courteous,  decided  and  impartial  manner  in  which 
he  performed  the  duties  of  that  high  position.  Outside  the 
heat  of  debate  he  was  never  accused  even  by  his  political 
enemies  of  unfairness  in  the  speaker’s  chair. 

During  all  these  years  of  arduous  congressional  labor,  he 
found  time  to  prepare  scores  of  political  campaign  speeches, 
and  many  important  addresses  and  magazine  articles.  His 
speeches  and  writings  constitute  in.  themselves  a  library  of 
American  history,  covering  nearly  half  a  century  of  time  and 
embracing  the  most  critical  periods  of  our  national  existence. 

Blaine  grew  in  popular  favor  more  rapidly  than  any  other 
public  man.  In  a  decade  filled  with  the  robust  patriotism  of 
Charles  Sumner,  Zack  Chandler  and  Oliver  P.  Morton;  the 
inspired  administration  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  the  heroic 


15 


achievements  of  Sheridan,  Sherman  and  Grant,  it  is  marvelous 
that  the  enthusiastic  love  and  admiration  of  the  Nation  should 
have  turned  so  quickly,  increased  so  rapidly,  and  become 
attached  so  enduringly  to  the  young  Congressman  who  had 
nothing  to  commend  him  except  the  developing  splendor  and 
gen  us  of  his  congressional  career. 

Much  of  it  was  due  to  the  stalwart  courage  and  uncompro¬ 
mising  character  of  the  man.  Whatever  cause  he  espoused, 
he  supported  with  his  whole  energy.  He  possessed,  too, 
a  rare  charm  of  manner.  A  pleasant,  genial,  whole-souled 
courtesy  always  characterized  his  personal  intercourse  with 
men.  To  know  him  was  to  love  him;  and  once  his  friend, 
always  his  friend.  He  represented,  also,  the  young  aggres¬ 
sive  element  in  the  republican  party;  the  youth  of  the  coun¬ 
try  flocked  enthusiastically  to  his  standard.  But  all  of  this 
only  partially  accounts  for  his  remarkable  popularity  with  the 
masses.  No  other  man  has  ever  inspired  so  much  personal 
enthusiasm  among  the  common  people  of  the  United  States, 
and  no  death  has  brought  so  keen  a  sense  of  personal  loss  to 
so  many  individuals. 

In  the  years  following  the  close  of  the  war,  Blaine  was 
especially  serviceable  to  his  country.  He  took  the  strongest 
possible  position  in  favor  of  honoring  every  obligation  of  the 
government,  not  only  in  the  letter,  but  in  the  spirit  of  the 
bond.  His  masterful  exposition  of  the  dangers  of  an  irre¬ 
deemable  currency  assisted  immeasurably  in  hastening  the 
return  of  the  government  to  the  safe  basis  of  specie  resump¬ 
tion.  His  strong  support  of  the  Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth 
Amendments  and  his  statesman-like  defense  of  the  extension 
of  suffrage  to  the  blacks,  will  endear  him  forever  in  the  affection 
of  a  race  whose  battle  for  real  liberty  and  ultimate  advance¬ 
ment  is  hopeless  indeed  except  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  ballot.  He  remained  to  the  end  of  his  life  the  uncompro- 
mising  foe  of  every  effort  made,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
disfranchise  the  negro  or  deprive  him  of  his  constitutional 
prerogatives.  A  single  sentence  of  his  ought  to  bq  written 
on  every  ballot  box  of  the  country.  “For  the  ballot  to-day, 
imperfectly  enjoyed  as  it  is  by  the  negro,  its  freedom  unjustly 
and  illegally  curtailed,  its  independence  ruthlessly  marred, 


16 


its  purity  defiled,  is  withal  and  after  all  the  strong  shield  the 
race  has  against  a  form  of  servitude  which  would  have  all  the 
cruelty  and  none  of  the  alleviations  of  the  old  slave  system.” 
He  demanded  that  every  American  citizen,  no  matter  how 
poor  or  ignorant  he  might  be,  should  be  protected  in  his  right 
to  vote.  Not  because  poverty  and  ignorance  are  desirable 
qualifications  for  citizenship,  but  because  a  race  or  class  can 
be  most  certainly  raised  from  degradation,  poverty*  and  ignor¬ 
ance  when  their  hopes  and  aspirations  and  desires  are 
quickened  by  the  dignity  of  political  equality  and  the  respon¬ 
sibilities  of  participation  in  government.  He  voiced  a  great 
truth  in  the  declaration  that  the  disfranchisement  of  a  man 
would  not  “put  him  in  the  way  of  any  development  or 
progress  that  would  in  time  fit  him  for  the  suffrage.” 

James  G.  Blaine  is  dead!  The  race  whose  future  he  labored 
so  arduously  to  secure,  is  still  under  the  ban  of  political 
proscription.  But  God  reigns!  His  justice  is  still  measured 
out  to  man,  and  the  honor  of  this  Nation  will  yet  be  redeemed 
and  its  constitution  will  be  respected  and  enforced. 

Blaine’s  popularity  marvelously  increased,  and  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  republican  party  turned  unhesitatingly  to  him 
as  a  presidential  candidate  for  1876.  Never  in  the  history  of 
this  country  has  so  much  spontaneous  enthusiasm  been 
developed  for  a  man  as  for  Blaine  in  that  and  every  succeed¬ 
ing  presidential  year. 

It  is  useless  to  discuss  the  causes  which  led  to  his 
defeat  in  the  Cincinnati  convention.  Impartial  history 
declares  that  the  will  of  the  people  was  nullified  by  the  com¬ 
bination  of  political  opponents.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  the  uncertain  result  of  the  presidential  election  of 
1876  was  largely  due  to  the  protest  of  the  masses  against 
those  who  had  thwarted  their  desire. 

Blaine  defeated,  was  greater  than  in  victory.  He  n'ever 
sulked  in  his  tent,  or  failed  to  do  his  whole  duty  to  his  party. 
His  was  the  first  voice  raised  after  every  personal  disap¬ 
pointment,  in  advocacy  of  his  successful  rival.  The  grand¬ 
eur  of  *his  character  was  never  so  splendidly  illustrated  as  in 
the  heroism  and  equanimity  with  which  he  accepted  defeat. 


This  quality,  perhaps  more  than  any  other,  endeared  him  to 
his  friends. 

Those  who  followed  him  in  1876  have  been  with  him  and 
for  him  ever  since,  demanding  from  every  republican  national 
convention  his  selection  as  the  presidential  candidate,  and 
refusing  to  be  comforted  that  his  death  has  made  it  impossi¬ 
ble  for  them  to  yet  bring  to  him  the  full  measure  of  his  hon¬ 
orable  ambition.  No  such  devoted  followers  ever  rallied 
around  another  man  ;  no  such  enthusiasm  has  ever  been 
aroused  for  any  other  name  ;  no  such  disinterested  affection 
has  ever  been  bestowed,  or  so  richly  deserved,  as  that  of 
the  American  people  for  the  great  champion  of  American 
principles. 

Blaine’s  nomination  and  defeat,  in  1884,  added  another 
remarkable  chapter  to  the  unprecedented  history  of  his 
politcal  career.  Never  was  such  a  scene  witnessed  as  that 
which  followed  the  announcement  of  his  nomination.  The 
great  convention  and  the  ten  thousand  spectators  seemed  to 
go  mad  with  joy.  The  nomination  of  no  man  has  ever  been 
received  with  such  general  rejoicing  as  was  that  of  Blaine 
—  a  hosanna  went  up  from  ocean  to  ocean.  The  campaign 
following  it  was  also  phenomena).  The  appearance  of 
Blaine  in  any  locality  was  the  signal  for  such  gatherings  as 
never  greeted  any  other  public  man.  It  seemed  impossible 
to  doubt  his  election  ;  and  the  news  of  his  defeat  astounded 
his  enemies  as  completely  as  it  did  his  friends. 

Speaking  only  from  the  patriotic  standpoint,  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  a  Blaine  administration  would  have 
been  a  national  blessing.  That  his  defeat  was  a  misfortune 
to  the  country.  Not  because  of  any  failure  on  the  part  of  his 
successful  competitor  to  satisfactorily  carry  on  the  govern¬ 
ment,  but  because  James  G.  Blaine  undoubtedly  possessed 
such  remarkable  capacity  for  national  and  international 
affairs;  such  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  necessities  and 
possibilities  of  the  hour;  such  an  ambitiom  for  the  welfare 
of  his  country;  such  a  genius  fcr  true  statesmanship,  that 
his  administration  would  have  given  a  mighty  impetus  to 
American  interests  and  added  a  deathless  lustre  to  American 
glory. 


18 


All  true  Americans  have  deeply  deplored  the  slanderous 
character  of  the  1884  campaign.  Partisan  malice  seemed  to 
exhaust  itself  in  the  effort  to  conceive  and  fulminate  damaging 
charges  against  his  private  and  public  character.  Never  had 
a  candidate  been  so  unjustly  maligned,  never  so  despicably 
assailed.  But  thank  God,  he  came  through  the  fiery  ordeal 
unscathed;  his  character  vindicated;  his  name  untarnished. 
Of  him  we  may  repeat  what  Conkling  so  eloquently  and 
truthfully  said  of  Grant:  “Vilified  and  reviled;  ruthlessly 

aspersed  by  unnumbered  presses,  not  in  other  lands  but  in 

# 

his  own;  assaults  upon  him  have  seasoned  and  strengthened 
his  hold  upon  the  public  heart;  calumny’s  ammunition  has  all 
been  exploded”  *  *  *  *  and  the  name  of  Blaine 

“will  glitter  a  bright  and  imperishable  star  in  the  diadem  of 
the  Republic  when  those  who  have  tried  to  tarnish  it  will  have 
mouldered  in  forgotten  graves,  and  when  their  memories  and 
their  epitaphs  have  vanished  utterly.” 

The  later  efforts  of  Blaine’s  life  were  devoted  to  the  im¬ 
provement  of  our  foreign  relations,  the  extension  of  our 
trade  and  commerce,  the  maintenance  and  enforcement  of  our 
international  rights. 

As  Secretary  of  State  under  Garfield  and  Harrison,  he  con- 

$ 

tributed  vastly  to  our  honor  and  power  abroad.  In  that  great 
office  he  more  fully  rounded  the  measure  of  his  matchless 
fame.  The  recognition  of  the  Monroe  doctrine;  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  reciprocal  commercial  relations  with  our  American 
neighbors,  thereby  greatly  increasing  the  export  trade  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  practical  securement  of  an  interde¬ 
pendent  alliance  of  all  American  governments  on  a  peace 
basis,  attest  his  genius  for  diplomacy.  In  all  his  dealings 
with  foreign  nations  he  has  maintained  the  dignity  and  credit 
of  the  United  States.  Insisting  upon  ample  reparation  for 
every  wrong  done  to  American  interests,  he  neither  imposed 
upon  the  weak  nor  yielded  to  the  strong.  The  fisherman 
on  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  and  the  sailor  in  the  harbor  of 
Valparaiso,  both  received  the  full  measure  of  American  pro¬ 
tection,  and  even  the  seal  in  Alaskan  waters,  thanks  God  for 
the  privilege  of  American  domestication. 

The  American  people  will  never  forget  those  heroes  of 


19 


t 


1776  who  wrought  the  miracle  of  American  liberty  and  rati¬ 
fied  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence  with  Ameri¬ 
can  blood.  They  will  never  forget  the  sailors  and  marines  of 
1812  whose  daring  made  the  deck  of  every  American  ship 
American  soil.  They  will  never  forget  th£  volunteers  of  1861, 
who  marched  with  Sherman  to  the  sea;  rode  with  Sheridan  in 
the  valley  of  the  Shenandoah,  and  stood  with  Grant  for  victory 
and  Union  at  Appomattox.  Their  immortal  deeds  have  made 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  the  emblem  of  a  Nation. 

Peace  hath  her  victories,  as  far  reaching  as  those  of  war. 
The  statesman  has  done  as  much  for  humanity  as  the  soldier. 
And  the  American  people  will  remember  to  the  end  of  time 
that  the  diplomatic  wisdom  and  courage  of  James  G.  Blaine 
advanced  the  prestige  of  the  United  States  and  sent  the  glory 
of  our  flag  into  the  remotest  corner  of  the  globe,  until  every 
wave  of  %very  sea  and  every  foot  of  every  land  is  an 
accredited  sanctuary  for  every  American  man. 

Only  three  men  have  attained  to  the  full  stature  of  statecraft 
in  modern  times — Bismarck,  Gladstone  and  Blaine.  Each 
in  his  way  has  contributed  greatly  to  the  welfare  and  pro¬ 
gress  of  the  human  race. 

Bismarck,  descendant  of  an  illustrious  line — companion  of 
princes — was  limited  in  his  efforts  by  the  environment  <pf 
empire  and  the  immobility  of  established  things.  Yet  he 
broke  down  the  barriers  of  petty  sovereignties;  redrafted  the 
map  of  continental  Europe;  gave  to  united  Germany  a  written 
constitution,  and  put  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  German 
people.  Intolerant  of  opposition;  masterful  and  autocratic 
in  his  methods — as  ready  with  the  sword  as  with  the  pen — 
history  in  denying  him  recognition  as  philantropist  or  saint, 
will  rank  him  as  amongst  the  most  successful  practical  bene¬ 
factors  of  the  age. 

Gladstone,  scholar,  author,  orator,  statesman — representa¬ 
tive  of  the  great  conservative  middle  class  which  for  cen¬ 
turies  gave  sturdiness  to  English  character,  and  stability  to 
English  institutions — has  been  pre-eminently  the  patriotic 
leader  of  that  liberal,  bloodless  revolution  which  made  of 
En  gland  a  real  republic,  although  her  emancipated  people 
still  tolerate  the  spectacle  of  royalty.  With  an  unselfish  de- 


20 


votion  unparalleled  in  history,  he  has  given  the  full  measure  of 
his  best  years  and  greatest  efforts  to  the  undoing  of  the  wrong 
of  centuries.  Glorious  indeed  will  be  his  memory  among  the 
liberty  loving  people  of  the  earth.  For  when  England  con¬ 
cedes  Home  Rule  t*o  Ireland  the  millennium  of  man’s  eman¬ 
cipation  must  be  near  at  hand. 

Blaine,  child  of  the  Republic,  rising  of  his  own  endeavor  to 
the  highest  station,  consecrated  his  God-given  powers  to  the 
common  people,  that  liberty,  equality,  opportunity  and  pros¬ 
perity,  should  be  a  heritage  to  every  American  child,  and 
hopeful  motherhood  the  glory  of  every  American  home. 

Bismarck  will  be  respected  and  admired  ;  Gladstone,  hon¬ 
ored  and  revered ;  Blaine,  greater,  grander,  more  human 
than  either,  is  beloved.  * 

Close  by  the  shore  of  the  farther  sea,  Tacoma’s  mountain 
rises  from  the  plain  ;  its  rugged  outline  cut  against  the  east¬ 
ern  sky.  Upon  its  snow-crowned  peak  the  ardent  sun  kindles 
a  chastened  splendor  ;  while  above,  only  the  soaring  eagle 
and  the  empyrean  blue.  Belched  from  the  seething  center 
of  a  molten  world,  this  mighty  witness  of  the  throes  that 
shook  a  firmament,  serenely  lifts  its  glacial  face  to  greet  the 
cycling  offspring  of  the  universe.  Those  tiny  atoms,  classi¬ 
fied  as  men,  awed  in  its  presence,  acknowledge  God. 

To  me,  the  character  of  Blaine  is  like  Tacoma.  Rugged 
and  grand,  it  rises  high  above  the  level  of  the  multitude, 
clear  cut  against  the  sky  of  fate.  Over  the  clouds  and 
storms  and  tempests  of  human  affairs  it  towers  in  the  sun¬ 
shine  of  heaven’s  indicated  will ;  serenely  smiling  down  upon 
the  world  of  men,  a  benediction  and  a  blessing  to  the  human 
race. 

» 

Blaine’s  domestic  life  was  pathetically  sweet  and  simple. 
He  never  permitted  the  shadow  of  his  great  ambition  to  fall 
across  the  threshold  of  his  home.  A  loving,  faithful  hus¬ 
band  ;  a  kind,  devoted  father  ;  his  wife  and  children  were  his 
dearest  companions  and  his  heartstone  the  holiest  of  shrines. 

The  patriots,  heroes  and  statesmen  God  gave  the  republic 
in  the  consecrated  years  of  ’6o-’65,  have  nearly  all  departed, 
and  soon  the  last  survivor  will  have  ceased  to  bless  us  with 
his  living  presence.  But  the  undimmed  lustre  of  their  deeds 


m 


21 

V 

on  earth  still  casts  refulgence  on  the  Nation’s  upward  path, 

and  their  shining  faces  from  the  realms  beyond  still  beam 

benignant  on  the  land  they  saved. 

Pardon  me  a  word  of  personal  retrospection.  Blaine’s 

death  recalls  to  my  mind  the  republican  national  convention 

of  1888.  On  the  opening  day  I  rode  from  my  hotel  to  the 
•  • 

convention  door  with  Walker  and  Emmons  Blaine;  both 
strong,  vigorous,  splendid  men.  In  four  short  years  James 
G.  Blaine  added  to  his  cup  of  political  bitterness,  that  deeper, 
more  deadly  poison  of  great  personal  loss,  in  the  death  of  a 
beloved  daughter  and  two  stalwart  sons.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  by  their  open  graves  his  great  heart  broke.  And  yet  he 
bore  up  bravely;  consoled  and  comforted  his  loved  ones  as 
best  he  could;  serene  and  jgtient  through  the  weary  days  and 
agonizing  nights,  until  God’s  mercy  gave  him  rest.  Blessing 
the  Nation  with  his  latest  breath,  he  heard  the  final  summons 
with  exceeding  joy,  and  turned  to  his  Creator  as  to  a  friend. 
A  wife’s  impassioned  kiss  upon  his  lips,  the  peace  of  heaven 
upon  his  brow,  the  miracle  of  the  infinite  wrought  at  last, 
and  “all  is  well.” 

We  cannot  peer  into  the  impenetrable  shadow;  we  listen  in 
the  eternal  silence,  and  there  is  no  sound;  but  the  mystic 
cable  of  human  hope  stretches  from  shore  to  shore.  Over  it 
we  send  the  message  of  our  deathless  affection,  and  with  the 
ear  of  faith  we  catch  an  answering  echo  from  the  soul  beyond. 


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